I bet you would never associate snow with a mosquito. Well, the mosquito Aedes communis is known as the Snow Mosquito, and it is a very interesting insect when it comes to certain things. This species of mosquito is found in a variety of places but aren’t very interesting when it comes to their coloration.

Snow Mosquitoes are not the most vivid thing you’ll ever look at. These mosquitoes range from 5 millimeters to 6 millimeters in length. They are mostly brown in coloration and have scaly-type bodies with a set of brown and black scales and another set that are yellow, white, and gray. Something that identifies it from other species of mosquitoes is that the scales on its comb differ. Basically Snow Mosquitoes are just small brown scaled mosquitoes.

As stated in the first paragraph the Snow Mosquito is found in a variety of places. They are found in Canada, New England, and the northern United States, but are most common in New Jersey. The population of Aedes communis is unknown but in 1994 it was said that they were endangered. Snow Mosquitoes live in a vast amount of places but are not very common and apparently endangered.

Snow Mosquitoes are the prey of many other animals. Their place in food web is the prey. The males and females of this species are both consumers, males foraging for plants to suck the juices out of and females feeding off the blood of mammals and birds for the production of their eggs. The larvae eat algae – which is their entire diet – until adulthood. While Aedes communis competes with other mosquitoes for food they have to be cautious of the predators that want to eat them, which would be birds, reptiles, bats, fish, and amphibians. With all of these animals wanting to eat you it would suck to be a Snow Mosquito.

Snow Mosquitoes are an important part of the food web among other things as all living things are. These small mosquitoes – though hatching in snow pools – can be a real pain if they decide to drink your blood, but other than that people might even find them to be interesting. Hopefully this information about Aedes communis is helpful to anybody and everybody who reads it.

Author: Caleigh C.
Published: 02/13

Sources: 

www.nmca.org/PAPER16.htm
www.insectidentification.org/insect-description.asp?identification=Snow-Mosquito
<div><a id="gtt_232_300" href="http://www.groundtruthtrekking.org/photo/snow-mosquito-aedes-communis/"><img src="http://www.groundtruthtrekking.org/static/uploads/photos/snow-mosquito-aedes-communis.300x300.jpg" style="width: 232px; height: 300px;" ></a><p>Hunting for blood, but this fleece is too thick.</p></div> Picture attribution and copyright goes to Bretwood Higman
Insects Economic & Non-Economic . . . . Foreign & Domestic 

 

Photo Credit: http://www.canada.com/topics/travel/story.html?id=44cbbae4-f49f-4df8-b91f-0ec6f06f0df4