Black saltmarsh mosquito

Aedes taeniorhynchus

The black saltmarsh mosquito is a mostly black mosquito with white bands on its legs. It has a white ring around the middle of its long beak.

Lives in

North and South America, especially the warm south, and the Galapagos Islands

Top speed

about 2 km/h (1.2 mph)

Can it hurt you?

Dangerous: look, do not touch

Its bites itch, and it can carry germs that make people and animals ill. Look, do not touch, and tell a grown-up if you get bitten a lot.

What does it eat?

Grown ups drink sugary plant juices. The females also drink blood, because they need it before they can lay eggs.

A tortoise about 0.3 km/h (0.19 mph)

Black saltmarsh 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

Boys and girls sound different. A male beats his wings about 700 to 800 times a second, a female only about 400 to 500.

Males have fluffy, feather-like feelers, while females have thin ones with few hairs.

Its babies grow in puddles of water that do not last long, where few enemies live.

One kind of it in Florida can travel as far as 153 kilometres.

The United States has spent millions of dollars trying to keep it under control.

you asked

?What does the black saltmarsh mosquito eat?

Sugary plant juices. Females also drink blood before laying eggs.

Aedes taeniorhynchus (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 iNaturalist user: nana10. CC0, Wikimedia Commons. The sticker of this bug is drawn from this picture.

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