give me 5 characteristics of culex mosquito
Answers
Culex adults are usually drab, unicolorous mosquitoes, but some species of the subgenus Culex have markings on the legs and pale spots on the wings similar to anopheles.
Depending on the species, the adult Culexmosquito may measure from 4–10 mm (0.2–0.4 in). The adult morphology is typical of flies in the suborder Nematocera with the head, thorax, and abdomen clearly defined and the two fore wings held horizontally over the abdomen when at rest. As in all Dipteracapable of flight, the second pair of wings is reduced and modified into tiny, inconspicuous halteres|this act as balancing organ during flight.
Formal identification is important in mosquito control, but it is demanding and requires careful measurements of bodily proportions and noting the presence or absence of various bristles or other bodily features.[2]
In the field informal identification is more often important, and the first question as a rule is whether the mosquito is anopheline or culicine. Given a specimen in good condition, one of the first things to notice is the length of the maxillary palps. Especially in the female, palps as long as the proboscis are characteristic of anopheline mosquitoes. Culicine females have short palps. Anopheline mosquitoes tend to have dappled or spotted wings, while culicine wings tend to be clear. Anopheline mosquitoes tend to sit with their heads low and their rear ends raised high, especially when feeding, while culicine females keep their bodies horizontal.
Anopheline larvae tend to float horizontal at the surface of the water when not in motion, whereas culicine larvae float with head low and only the siphon at the tail held at the surface.