Asian tiger mosquito
Aedes albopictus
Name means: “white-painted”
The Asian tiger mosquito is a small black mosquito with bright white stripes on its legs and body, like a tiny tiger. A white line runs down the middle of its back.
Lives in
First from Southeast Asia, now in many countries around the world
Can it hurt you?
Dangerous: look, do not touch
Its bite can pass on serious illnesses like dengue fever in some parts of the world. Use mosquito spray or a net when a grown-up says so, and tell a grown-up if you get many bites.
What does it eat?
Only the female drinks blood, which she needs to make her eggs. The male drinks nectar from flowers.
How fast is it?
A tortoise about 0.3 km/h (0.19 mph)
Asian tiger mosquito about 2 km/h (1.2 mph)
A person walking about 5 km/h (3.1 mph)
A kid running fast about 13 km/h (8.1 mph)
cool stuff
Fun facts
1
Its scientific name albopictus means white-painted.
2
It travelled around the world hidden in goods, like old car tyres with a bit of rainwater inside.
3
It lives close to people instead of in swamps.
4
It is very quick and nimble, so most people miss when they try to swat it.
5
The males have bushy feelers that can hear the whine of a female.
you asked
Most asked questions about Asian tiger mosquito
?How do you recognise a tiger mosquito?
It is black with white stripes on its legs and a single white line down the middle of its back.
For bug experts
- Scientific name
- Aedes albopictus
- Named by
- Skuse, 1894
- Group
- Flies and mosquitoes
- Family
- Culicidae
- Classification
- Insecta > Diptera > Culicidae
- Lives on
- Asia, Europe, North America
- Also known as
- Tiger mosquito, Forest mosquito
Where the facts come from
- Aedes albopictus (Wikipedia, CC BY-SA 4.0): what it looks like, where it lives, what it eats, sizes and fun facts, retold in simple words.
- Picture by James Gathany, CDC. Public domain, Wikimedia Commons. The sticker of this bug is drawn from this picture.
If we got something wrong, sorry, we are bug fans, not a science journal. Tell us at [email protected] and we will fix it.
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