Mountain mosquitoes
| Mountain mosquitoes | ||||||||||||
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| Systematics | ||||||||||||
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| Scientific name of the family | ||||||||||||
| Deuterophlebiidae | ||||||||||||
| Edwards , 1922 | ||||||||||||
| Scientific name of the genus | ||||||||||||
| Deuterophlebia | ||||||||||||
| Edwards , 1922 |
The mountain mosquitoes ( Deuterophlebia , Deuterophlebiidae) are a genus and family of the two-winged birds ( Diptera) and belong to the mosquitoes (Nematocera). The few members of this group live in East and Central Asia as well as in North America.
The aquatic larvae of the mountain mosquitoes, which are very well adapted to fast flowing waters in their physique and their way of life, are remarkable. They can only be found on smooth, flooded stones in a water depth of no more than 30 centimeters. The larvae are flattened dorsally and extremely broad. The head has long and articulated antennae , the adjoining thorax is tripartite and has no extremities. The abdomen consists of eight segments, the first seven of which are greatly enlarged and provided with leg-like pseudopodia . In the first larval stage, these "legs" have one hook rings at their end, later up to 13 hook rings with which the animals can hold on to the substrate. The last abdominal segment is equipped with five anal papillae. The animals breathe through the body surface.
Seen from the dorsal side, the pupa of the mountain mosquito appears oval and is slightly concave. It can be found where the larvae also lived, and its belly side is firmly pressed against the stones. It carries respiratory organs on the prothorax . There are already 40 to 100 fertilizable eggs in the female pupae.
literature
- Courtney GW (1990): Revision of nearctic mountain midges (Diptera: Deuterophlebiidae) , J. nat. hist. 24 , 81 - 118
- Kennedy HD (1981): Biology and life history of a new species of mountain midge, Deuterophlebius nielsoni , in the eastern California (Diptera, Deuterophlebiidae). Trans. Am. mocrisc. Soc. 7 , 201-228
- Kennedy HD (1981): Deuterophlebiidae In: McAlpine et al. (Eds): Manual of the nearctic Diptera Vol 1. Res Branch Agric Can Mon 27
