Aedes rusticus, it is a relatively common European mosquito, that is often responsible for human bites from May to August. Like all mosquitoes, it is only the females that bite.

Aedes rusticus
Aedes rusticus North Wales
Scientific classification
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A. rusticus
Binomial name
Aedes (Ochlerotatus) rusticus
(Rossi, 1790)
Synonyms

Aedes diversus Theobald 1901 Ochlerotatus rusticus (Rossi, 1790)

Distribution edit

Aedes rusticus has a patchy distribution, from Britain (mainly southern), Belgium, Denmark, Poland, Russia, The Balkans and as far as Asia Minor.

Life cycle edit

Following a mammal blood meal to provide sufficient protein to produce eggs, females will lay their egg rafts in spring or summer in dried-up pools, they will hatch when the pools flood later in the year. They will overwinter in the 4th larval stage, pupation and adult emergence take place the following spring.[1]

References edit

  1. ^ P.S. Cranston; C.D. Ramsdale; K.R. Snow; G.B. White (1987). Adults, Larvae, and Pupae of British Mosquitoes (Culicidae) A Key. Freshwater Biological Association. pp. 152 pp. ISBN 0-900386-46-0.