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Mosquito siphon tubes - extreme macro, Heesch, Netherlands To complete this little series of documenting parts of the life cycle of a mosquito...<br /> <figure class="photo"><a href="https://www.jungledragon.com/image/96840/mosquito_larvae_and_pupae_lifecycle_-_extreme_macro_heesch_netherlands.html" title="Mosquito larvae and pupae lifecycle - extreme macro, Heesch, Netherlands"><img src="https://s3.amazonaws.com/media.jungledragon.com/images/2/96840_thumb.jpg?AWSAccessKeyId=05GMT0V3GWVNE7GGM1R2&Expires=1759968010&Signature=kUykmVGueKpULm%2BWYvxSm94aXhg%3D" width="200" height="134" alt="Mosquito larvae and pupae lifecycle - extreme macro, Heesch, Netherlands Here&#039;s a prime example of a pretty bad idea achieving a goal I didn&#039;t even know I had. Or let&#039;s just call it luck.<br /> <br /> In another post, Christine encouraged me to look for mosquito eggs/larvae in still waters. So I took the lazy approach, one of my two small ponds in the garden is in the shade and wind-free, and I actually found some there. <br /> <br /> I just poured some of them into a glass. That was the easy part. Next, extreme macro poses a huge challenge here since the water moves, subjects move, which again causes the water to move. Surely the scene isn&#039;t static enough to do a deep stack, which typically takes at least 5 minutes to run and require the subject to not even move by 1 mm, or even 0.1mm.<br /> <br /> Out of desperation to at least capture something, I went for it anyway, and the outcome I think is pretty hilarious. To describe what&#039;s going on:<br /> <br /> - There&#039;s 3 larvae in the scene. One is in the bottom half of the image swimming around, the stack process creating multiple exposures of its movement.<br /> <br /> - The other 2 larvae are attached to the water surface. They use siphon tubes to breath, hanging upside down. You can see the multiple exposures hinting at their movement when attached.<br /> <br /> - There&#039;s 1.5 pupae in the scene, the big creature hanging upside down. In this phase it doesn&#039;t feed yet it&#039;s not immobile. When disturbing the water, it instantly sinks to the bottom. And back up again when it&#039;s safe.<br /> <br /> - In the top right is a single water flea interacting with a mosquito larva.<br /> <br /> This entire scene is just about 1cm wide, a tiny section of a glass. As a casual observation, in the few hours I was busy with this glass, 3 pupae transformed into adults and flew away. <br /> <br /> More to come later :) Culex pipiens,Extreme Macro,The Netherlands" /></a></figure><br /> <figure class="photo"><a href="https://www.jungledragon.com/image/96948/culex_pipiens_-_pupa_3_heesch_netherlands.html" title="Culex pipiens - pupa 3, Heesch, Netherlands"><img src="https://s3.amazonaws.com/media.jungledragon.com/images/2/96948_thumb.jpg?AWSAccessKeyId=05GMT0V3GWVNE7GGM1R2&Expires=1759968010&Signature=c%2FO7qk0P8c5a9sPtiodksC6Kk4Y%3D" width="148" height="152" alt="Culex pipiens - pupa 3, Heesch, Netherlands After my lucky 2.5:1 experiment found here:<br /> https://www.jungledragon.com/image/96840/mosquito_larvae_and_pupae_lifecycle_-_extreme_macro_heesch_netherlands.html<br /> ...I figured to keep pushing my luck and try a bigger magnification (4x) as well as stronger direct lighting. With a relatively static pupa taking up more of the image, there&#039;s less space for its chaotic surroundings. Due to movement in the water itself, the first 2 attempts failed, as the pupa also moved. This is the 3rd try, which I find acceptably sharp given difficult conditions. <br /> <br /> All 3 images are derived from the same single image, just different rotations, crop and post processing in an attempt to show detail in different ways. <br /> <br /> https://www.jungledragon.com/image/96950/culex_pipiens_-_pupa_heesch_netherlands.html<br /> https://www.jungledragon.com/image/96947/culex_pipiens_-_pupa_2_heesch_netherlands.html Culex pipiens,Extreme Macro,Extreme Macro Portraits,WeMacro" /></a></figure><br /> ...this image shows the siphon tubes that larvae use to breath whilst they hang upside down, show in the first image above. I was hoping to capture a good still with a larva still attached, but failed to do this, they simply move too much for stacking.<br /> <br /> I suppose these are all past usage, of larvae that have now turned into pupae already. You can still see pieces of skin attached, as per my understand they shed skin 4 times before turning into pupae. This would explain the incredible size difference between these little worms.<br /> Common House Mosquito,Culex pipiens,Extreme Macro Click/tap to enlarge Promoted

Mosquito siphon tubes - extreme macro, Heesch, Netherlands

To complete this little series of documenting parts of the life cycle of a mosquito...

Mosquito larvae and pupae lifecycle - extreme macro, Heesch, Netherlands Here's a prime example of a pretty bad idea achieving a goal I didn't even know I had. Or let's just call it luck.<br /> <br /> In another post, Christine encouraged me to look for mosquito eggs/larvae in still waters. So I took the lazy approach, one of my two small ponds in the garden is in the shade and wind-free, and I actually found some there. <br /> <br /> I just poured some of them into a glass. That was the easy part. Next, extreme macro poses a huge challenge here since the water moves, subjects move, which again causes the water to move. Surely the scene isn't static enough to do a deep stack, which typically takes at least 5 minutes to run and require the subject to not even move by 1 mm, or even 0.1mm.<br /> <br /> Out of desperation to at least capture something, I went for it anyway, and the outcome I think is pretty hilarious. To describe what's going on:<br /> <br /> - There's 3 larvae in the scene. One is in the bottom half of the image swimming around, the stack process creating multiple exposures of its movement.<br /> <br /> - The other 2 larvae are attached to the water surface. They use siphon tubes to breath, hanging upside down. You can see the multiple exposures hinting at their movement when attached.<br /> <br /> - There's 1.5 pupae in the scene, the big creature hanging upside down. In this phase it doesn't feed yet it's not immobile. When disturbing the water, it instantly sinks to the bottom. And back up again when it's safe.<br /> <br /> - In the top right is a single water flea interacting with a mosquito larva.<br /> <br /> This entire scene is just about 1cm wide, a tiny section of a glass. As a casual observation, in the few hours I was busy with this glass, 3 pupae transformed into adults and flew away. <br /> <br /> More to come later :) Culex pipiens,Extreme Macro,The Netherlands

Culex pipiens - pupa 3, Heesch, Netherlands After my lucky 2.5:1 experiment found here:<br /> https://www.jungledragon.com/image/96840/mosquito_larvae_and_pupae_lifecycle_-_extreme_macro_heesch_netherlands.html<br /> ...I figured to keep pushing my luck and try a bigger magnification (4x) as well as stronger direct lighting. With a relatively static pupa taking up more of the image, there's less space for its chaotic surroundings. Due to movement in the water itself, the first 2 attempts failed, as the pupa also moved. This is the 3rd try, which I find acceptably sharp given difficult conditions. <br /> <br /> All 3 images are derived from the same single image, just different rotations, crop and post processing in an attempt to show detail in different ways. <br /> <br /> https://www.jungledragon.com/image/96950/culex_pipiens_-_pupa_heesch_netherlands.html<br /> https://www.jungledragon.com/image/96947/culex_pipiens_-_pupa_2_heesch_netherlands.html Culex pipiens,Extreme Macro,Extreme Macro Portraits,WeMacro

...this image shows the siphon tubes that larvae use to breath whilst they hang upside down, show in the first image above. I was hoping to capture a good still with a larva still attached, but failed to do this, they simply move too much for stacking.

I suppose these are all past usage, of larvae that have now turned into pupae already. You can still see pieces of skin attached, as per my understand they shed skin 4 times before turning into pupae. This would explain the incredible size difference between these little worms.

    comments (7)

  1. View Christine Young's profile
    Christine Young
    Lion
    View Lion class
    Cool! The siphons are important for the ID of the larvae. If you find more larvae in the future and feel like sacrificing a couple, you could focus on getting shots of their siphons (and the saddle and hairs) and their heads.

    Fun fact: Not all larvae get air from the surface of the water through siphons. Some larvae, such as those in the Coquillettidia genus, have a special saw-like siphon that they use to cut holes in submerged vegetation; thus, they respire/breathe by sticking their siphons in the plants.     Posted 5 years ago
    1. View Ferdy Christant's profile
      Ferdy Christant
      Lion
      View Lion class
      Did not know the siphons have an identification quality to them. Do you think I need more detail not shown on this photo, bigger magnification?

      I do have one shot of one with larva attached, but it's terrible, I'll send it to you privately.       Posted 5 years ago
      1. View Christine Young's profile
        Christine Young
        Lion
        View Lion class
        Yes - the siphons are important: the length, thinness/thickness, tufts of setae, pectin ("teeth"), dorsal brush, caudal hair, saddle, comb, gills, and anal brush are all located at the butt-end of the larva and are important features for ID. The head also has some important characteristics as well.

        I don't know that you need more magnification, but I was just throwing out the idea to key in on specific areas of a mosquito larva because it would make it easier to ID them and would provide some nice, online diagnostic photos. Basically, it would be cool ;P.         Posted 5 years ago, modified 5 years ago
        1. View Ferdy Christant's profile
          Ferdy Christant
          Lion
          View Lion class
          Clear, thanks! With this current approach I surely can't photograph them reliably, think I will need some tiny container and use a vertical stack approach. Posted 5 years ago
          1. View Christine Young's profile
            Christine Young
            Lion
            View Lion class
            Probably true...if you ever decide to try, a small petri dish might work well. Posted 5 years ago, modified 5 years ago
  3. View DebRich's profile
    DebRich
    Lion
    View Lion class
    This is so cool! I had no idea or thought of how mosquito larva breathe! Nature is amazing! Posted 5 years ago
    1. View Ferdy Christant's profile
      Ferdy Christant
      Lion
      View Lion class
      It sure is :) Posted 5 years ago

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The Common House Mosquito

''Culex pipiens'' is a species of blood-feeding mosquito of the family Culicidae. It is a vector of some diseases, such as Japanese encephalitis, meningitis, and urticaria. In the US and parts of Europe, it can spread West Nile virus, and in Emilia-Romagna, Italy, it has been demonstrated to be a vector of Usutu virus.

Info 14 0
Similar species: True Flies
Species identified by Ferdy Christant
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By Ferdy Christant

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Uploaded Jul 1, 2020. Captured Jun 16, 2020 22:05.
country flag of Netherlands Explore Netherlands 8,314 2,306 0
  • NIKON D850
  • f/1.2
  • 1/200s
  • ISO64
  • 50mm