Aedes

This 2006 photograph depicted a female Aedes aegypti mosquito as she was in the process of flying away from her host's skin surface, after having had obtained her fill of blood. Normally, blood is obtained from an unsuspecting host, but in this case, the CDC's biomedical photographer, James Gathany, had volunteered his own hand in order to entice the insect to alight, and feed. Note that the sharply pointed orange-colored "fascicle", was once again ensheathed within the insect's proboscis by the outer soft labium. Its blood meal can be seen inside its distended abdomen, evidenced by the red coloration visible through the stretched, transparent exoskeletal abdominal exterior. See PHIL # #8924, for this mosquito's appearance before the ingestion of its blood meal.Created: 2006

This 2006 photograph depicted a female Aedes aegypti mosquito as she was in the process of obtaining a "blood meal", which normally is from an unsuspecting host, but in this case, the CDC's biomedical photographer, James Gathany, had volunteered his own hand in order to entice the insect to alight, and feed. Note that having penetrated the skin surface with its sharply-pointed fascicle, the feeding mosquito was collecting its blood meal in its distended abdomen, evidenced by the red coloration visible through the stretching, translucent exoskeletal abdominal exterior. See PHIL # #8924, for this mosquito's appearance before the ingestion of its blood meal. If you look carefully, you can also see that the labium, which is the soft tissue sheath that envelopes the sharply-pointed fascicle, had slid up the fascicle, and took on a "kinked" configuration, pointing posteriorly.Created: 2006

This 2006 photograph depicted a female Aedes aegypti mosquito as she was in the process of seeking out a penetrable site on the skin surface of its host. She'd then proceed to obtain a "blood meal", which normally would be from an unsuspecting host, but in this case, the CDC's biomedical photographer, James Gathany, had volunteered his own hand in order to entice the insect to alight, and feed. As it would fill with blood, the abdomen would become distended, thereby, stretching the exterior exoskeletal surface, thereby, causing it to become transparent, and allowing the collecting blood to become visible as an enlarging red mass. See PHIL # #8923, for this mosquito's appearance in its abdominally-distended state.Created: 2006

This 2006 photograph depicted a female Aedes aegypti mosquito as she was in the process of obtaining a "blood meal", which normally is from an unsuspecting host, but in this case, the CDC's biomedical photographer, James Gathany, had volunteered his own hand in order to entice the insect to alight, and feed. Note that having penetrated the skin surface with its sharply-pointed fascicle, the feeding mosquito was collecting its blood meal in its distended abdomen, evidenced by the red coloration visible through the stretching, translucent exoskeletal abdominal exterior. See PHIL # #8924, for this mosquito's appearance before the ingestion of its blood meal. If you look carefully, you can also see that the labium, which is the soft tissue sheath that envelopes the sharply-pointed fascicle, had slid up the fascicle, and took on a "kinked" configuration, pointing posteriorly.Created: 2006

This 2005 photograph depicts a female Aedes aegypti mosquito, which is the primary vector for the spread of Dengue fever. The virus that causes Dengue is maintained in the mosquito’s life cycle, and involves humans, to whom the virus is transmitted when bitten. The female mosquito pictured here, was shown as she was obtaining a blood meal by inserting the feeding stylet through the skin, and into a blood vessel. Blood can be seen being drawn up through the stylet, and into the mosquito’s mouth.Created: 2005

This photograph depicts a female Aedes aegypti mosquito as she rests on the skin of a human host while she acquires a blood meal.Created: 1967