Psorophora ferox

Psorophora ferox

"Psorophora ferox" is a medium-sized mosquito native to much of North and South America. It inhabits wet woodlands, laying its eggs in temporary pools filled with rainwater. Larvae develop during summer in North America. They are aggressive feeders and give painful bites. The mosquito is reported to be active during both day and night.
White-footed Mosquito (Female) - Psorophora ferox Total length: ~6 mm. The legs, wings, and abdominal segments have purple iridescent scales. Tarsal segments 4 and 5 are entirely pale scaled.  These mosquitoes prefer mammalian blood. 

"Ferox" means: fierce, wild, bold, courageous, warlike, spirited, etc. It is definitely an appropriate name for this species as they inflict a very painful bite and they are so aggressive.

Female Psorophora ferox frequently bite people. Numerous viruses have been isolated from Psorophora ferox. However, the sylvatic nature of this species likely prevents it from being a major vector in transmitting pathogens to humans.

I found this mosquito sitting next to me on a chair on my deck. I was shocked to see it resting there! They usually attack fairly quickly, but this female was gravid, so she must have been sated for the moment.

https://www.jungledragon.com/image/64515/white-footed_mosquito_female_-_psorophora_ferox.html
https://www.jungledragon.com/image/64517/white-footed_mosquito_female_-_psorophora_ferox.html


Sorry for the horrendous video quality, but I wanted to show how these mosquitoes walk - with lifting their hind legs:
https://vimeo.com/283723871
 Geotagged,Psorophora ferox,Summer,United States,White-footed Mosquito,mosquito,psorophora

Appearance

The adult's thorax is covered in dark scales with flecks of lighter yellowish scales. The abdomen is mostly dark-scaled dorsally, and yellowish ventrally. These yellowish scales form apicolateral triangular patches. The dorsum reflects a purple color. The legs are largely dark with white scales on the last two tarsal segments. The female's wings range from around 3.7-4.0 mm. The proboscis is long and dark.
White-footed Mosquito (Female) - Psorophora ferox Total length: ~6 mm. The legs, wings, and abdominal segments have purple iridescent scales. Tarsal segments 4 and 5 are entirely pale scaled. These mosquitoes prefer mammalian blood. 

 "Ferox" means: fierce, wild, bold, courageous, warlike, spirited, etc. It is definitely an appropriate name for this species as they inflict a very painful bite and they are so aggressive.

 Female Psorophora ferox frequently bite people. Numerous viruses have been isolated from Psorophora ferox. However, the sylvatic nature of this species likely prevents it from being a major vector in transmitting pathogens to humans.

 I found this mosquito sitting next to me on a chair on my deck. I was shocked to see it resting there! They usually attack fairly quickly, but this female was gravid, so she must have been sated for the moment.

https://www.jungledragon.com/image/64515/white-footed_mosquito_female_-_psorophora_ferox.html
https://www.jungledragon.com/image/64514/white-footed_mosquito_female_-_psorophora_ferox.html

 Sorry for the horrendous video quality, but I wanted to show how these mosquitoes walk - with lifting their hind legs: https://vimeo.com/283723871
 Geotagged,Psorophora ferox,Summer,United States,White-footed Mosquito,female mosquito,mosquito,psorophora

Uses

"Ps. ferox" carries a number of diseases, although it is not considered a major vector. It is known to carry Venezuelan equine encephalitis virus. It was found to be a minor vector of West Nile Virus in New York. Several viruses have been found in this mosquito in the Amazon, such as Una virus and Ilheus virus. In Central and South America, the mosquito carries the larvae of "Dermatobia hominis", the human bot fly, a parasite whose larvae develop inside the flesh of a mammal host.

References:

Some text fragments are auto parsed from Wikipedia.

Taxonomy
KingdomAnimalia
DivisionArthropoda
ClassInsecta
OrderDiptera
FamilyCulicidae
GenusPsorophora
SpeciesP. ferox