Hawaiian Insects

Toxorhynchites brevipalpis, a predatory, non-biting mosquito introduced in an attempt to control biting mosquitos. Unfortunately they never really took off and it's fairly rare to see them. But when you do, they're quite a striking sight - they're big (the body is over half an inch long, and the span of the legs is close to an inch), metallic blue, strong fliers, and make a buzz similar to a regular mosquito but audible from at least five feet away. Two of them kept coming back to a particular paperbark tree near the start of the Kaluaa trail (a pretty dry area) for some reason.

Created on

Tuesday 21 July 2015

Posted on

Sunday 24 January 2016

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Toxorhynchites brevipalpis Kaluaa 6536.jpg

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Tags

Culicidae, Diptera, Hawaiian alien arthropods, Honouliuli FR, Kaluaa Gulch, Oahu, Toxorhynchites, Toxorhynchites brevipalpis, Waianae Range

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