I really want that, after reading this article, the reader will have a good attitude towards the entire mosquito genus, which includes, for example, the long-legged mosquito. After all, out of thirty-two mosquito families, only four have species that suck blood. They formed such a notoriety about mosquitoes.
A resident of humid forest glades and swampy meadows, the mosquito-legged species is only a very frightening and large insect. But in reality, its food is exclusively nectar and decaying plant debris, so it has nothing to do with dangerous malarial and blood-sucking mosquitoes.
Long-legged in former times in Russia were called karamors. Their Latin name is Tipulidae. These are insects belonging to the order of dipterans and suborder of long-eared. Most often, this is a huge mosquito up to forty millimeters in size, but in nature there are a lot of centipedes, medium in size, and they all have long legs. Depending on the habitat, the long-legged mosquito can have a grayish, yellowish-green, brownish color. Of the one and a half thousand species of these insects in Russia and the CIS countries, there are four hundred species.
High humidity is the main condition for the development of these insects. Adults lay their eggs in mossy soil or wood, sometimes directly into the water. The larvae are marshy in color, in tone with the habitat. As food for them are decaying plant debris, root crops of forest and garden crops. The first stage of larval development takes place in the upper soil layer or in decayed stumps and tree branches, in the bottom of marshes and reservoirs with standing or running water. Being in a pupal state, they are already moving, leaning on the ground with the spike they have in their head area.
Unlike a centipede, which is absolutely safe for people, a tropical mosquito is found in areas with a tropical climate, which can be deadly for people. A single bite may be enough for death from malaria or fever. So, in the African countries there have been epidemics in our time, killing from one and a half to two and a half million people. It should be noted that malaria mosquitoes get along well with the causative agents of these diseases, therefore, pumping infected blood, the mosquito will transmit the disease to a healthy person only after a week. During this time, the causative agents of the disease mature in it, go through the preparatory stage, and then, when they bite another victim, they infect it.
For mosquitoes, increased humidity is the most important condition for good development. They reproduce very well right in the water. From eggs laid in the water, worm-like larvae appear. They turn upside down in the water, catching their tail on the surface of the water film, and breathe it. Feeling the danger or some kind of agitation on the water, the larvae and pupae easily dive to the bottom, feel good there and develop two weeks before growing up.
The long-legged mosquito does not live long. His female will die in two months, and the mosquito himself - much earlier.
