God’s Little Creatures – Elephant Mosquito

Today I would like to share this interesting insect with you, this is one that when you see it you would automatically squash it, but please think again.

What looks like an overgrown mosquito that could really pack a nasty bite, is actually known as an Elephant Mosquito and they have absolutely no interest in blood, neither human nor animal.

These are large mosquitoes, about two or three times the size of a normal biting mosquito and are usually a metallic blue colour, however as adults they only drink nectar from flowers.

Whats even more helpful to us is the fact that their larva are predators of normal mosquito larva. These Elephant mosquitoes lay their eggs in the same stagnant waters as the common mosquitoes, but when they hatch their babies catch and eat the babies of the common mosquito.

So in all these are really helpful Mosquitoes to keep around.

These Elephant Mosquitoes are found in tropical and sub tropical areas around the world. I took this picture at the Kenneth Stainbank Nature Reserve in Yellow Wood Park.

Please feel free to visit my Photography page for more pictures of God’s amazing little creatures found in and around the Bluff: www.facebook.com/WkDickPhotography