Launching Heads: The Secret Life of the Teenage Mosquito

Cue the morbid curiosity: Macrocinematography captures the deathly hunting techniques of mosquito larvae.

Jessica Predko
24th October 2022
Image credit: Unsplash
Mosquito larvae spend their lives in water, hanging upside down with their siphon tube, which helps them breathe, poking up into the fresh air like a snorkel.  

Sounds normal so far, but how about if they were able to launch their head out of their bodies to grasp and kill their prey?

A recent study published in Annals of the Entomological Society of America, showed that through using high speed macrocinematography, Robert Hancock and colleagues were able to finally uncovered the secrets of the elusive teenage life of the mosquito.

Ps. ciliata and Tx. amboinensis are both obligate predators whom require their nutrients from flesh.

Three species of mosquito larvae, Toxorhynchites amboinensis, Psorophora ciliata, and Sabethes cyaneus were studied on how they capture their prey. Ps. ciliata and Tx. amboinensis are both obligate predators whom require their nutrients from flesh. Being able to constrict and compress their abdominal segments like an accordion provides the momentum for them to extend their necks towards their prey. As their heads shoot-out from their bodies, their strongly-toothed mandibles and lateral palatal brushes, which generate and maintain water and particle flow around their heads, move to an ‘open position’ which then clasps around their unfortunate prey.

They are able to secure their grasp in just 15 milliseconds!

A slow motion demonstrating the spring-like launching of the head.

Now onto Sa. cyaneus, which is facultative predator!

They may not exactly launch their heads like the other two mosquito species, but instead they use their siphon snorkel-like hook, which doubles-up as a prey-catcher. They then whip prey towards their head. The toothed maxillae grip the prey firmly, whilst the toothed mandible is used for tearing it apart.

Sounds violent!

But Sa. cyaneus actually gains nutrients from feasting on other larvae, so it isn’t too bad! Don’t worry, they can also distinguish between their own and other species of mosquitos, as no cannibalism was observed when placed with their own and Ae. Albopictus larvae.

Both types of prey-catching mechanisms have their own advantages and limitations. Sa. cyaneus has a higher prey range, due to their sweeping larval body arch; whereas Ps. ciliata and Tx. amboinensis’s launching heads have a closer capture range.

More mosquitos could be studied in the future using high speed macrocinematography to see if other species may use either the head launching or the siphon mechanism to capture their unlucky prey.

DOI: https://doi.org/10.1093/aesa/saac017

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