Image de Aedes aegypti (Linnaeus 1762)

Description :

This 2006 photograph depicted a female Aedes aegypti mosquito while she was in the process of acquiring a blood meal. The feeding apparatus consisted of a sharp, orange-colored fascicle that was covered in a soft, pliant sheath called the "labellum while not feeding. The labellum was shown here retracted as the sharp "stylets" contained within pierced the host's skin surface, thereby, allowing the insect to obtain its blood meal. The orange color of the fascicle was due to the red color of the blood as it migrated up the thin, sharp translucent tube. When viewed in cross-section, the larger of the two needle-sharp stylets, known as the "labrum", takes on the shape of an inverted "V", and acts as a gutter, which directs the ingested host blood towards the insect's mouth. This female’s abdomen had become distended due to the blood meal she was ingesting, imparting the red coloration to her translucent abdominal exoskeleton.
Created: 2006