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Date:
2006/11/16 00:00
Filename:
yf_-_female_aedes_aegytpi_mosquito_2.jpg
Caption:
2006 Prof. Frank Hadley Collins, Dir., Cntr. for Global Health and Infectious Diseases, Univ. of Notre Dame This 2006 photograph depicted a female <i>Aedes aegypti</i> mosquito while she was in the process of acquiring a blood meal from her human host, who in this instance, was actually the biomedical photographer, James Gathany, here at the Centers for Disease Control. You’ll note the feeding apparatus consisting of a sharp, orange-colored “fascicle”, which while not feeding, is covered in a soft, pliant sheath called the "labellum”, which retracts as the sharp stylets contained within pierce the host's skin surface, as the insect obtains its blood meal. The orange color of the fascicle is due to the red color of the blood as it migrates up the thin, sharp translucent tube. Though out of focus in the background, note the droplet of newly ingested blood that had been expelled, and dispersed from the distal abdominal tip merely due to over-engorgement on the host’s blood. As the primary vector responsible for the transmission of the <i>Flavivirus</i> Dengue (DF), and Dengue hemorrhagic fever (DHF), the day-biting <i>Aedes aegypti</i> mosquito prefers to feed on its human hosts. <i>Ae. aegypti</i> also plays a major role as a vector for another <i>Flavivirus</i>, "Yellow fever". Frequently found in its tropical environs, the white banded markings on the tarsal segments of its jointed legs, though distinguishing it as <i>Ae. aegypti</i>, are similar to some other mosquito species. Also note the lyre-shaped, silvery-white markings on its thoracic region as well, which is also a determining morphologic identifying characteristic.
Photographer:
Photographer: James Gathany
Format:
JPEG
Size:
289KB
Width:
540
Height:
400
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