Large Mosquito Larva - Eucorethra underwoodi - BugGuide.Net

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Home » Guide » Arthropods (Arthropoda) » Hexapods (Hexapoda) » Insects (Insecta) » Flies (Diptera) » "Nematocera" (Non-Brachycera) » Mosquitoes and Midges (Culicomorpha) » Phantom Midges (Chaoboridae) » Eucorethra » Eucorethra underwoodi

Photo#161702

Copyright © 2007 Stephen Luk

Large Mosquito Larva - Eucorethra underwoodi

Johnston Canyon, Banff National Park, Alberta, Canada
August 23, 2007
Size: 10 mm

Here's one for Sean and Omar. In flooded humus-rich trail-side ditch in humid, predominantly pine forest growing along canyon.
At first I thought it was a Toxorhynchites, but that didn't look right after I checked the guide. Seems to be predacious given the large head and mouthparts, though I didn't notice any other mosquito larvae in the habitat. Captured, photographed and released.

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Contributed by Stephen Luk on 20 December, 2007 - 2:05pm
Last updated 25 April, 2017 - 2:12pm

Moved

Moved from Anopheles.

… John F. Carr, 25 April, 2017 - 2:12pm

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Eucorethra

I think this is actually a phantom midge (family: Chaoboridae) in the genus Eucorethra. They look a bit like Anopheles mosquitoes, but have wider heads and longer antennae. They are predators that use those long, prehensile antennae to capture prey, including mosquitoes. Look at other photos of Eucorethra larvae in the guide for comparison.

… Bill Gerth, 25 April, 2017 - 2:03pm

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Moved

Moved from Mosquitoes.

… John F. Carr, 29 October, 2011 - 2:01pm

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looks like

the larva of an Anopheles mosquito. They don't have siphons and tend to rest flat beneath the water like you have. These guys are mostly filter feeders on floating organic matter. The only other larvae that I know of that are predacious besides Toxorhynchites are some Psorophora (eg. Ps. ciliata.

With a person with lack of experience like me, I would need a closer look at the head and abdominal setae to key this guy out. But I feel like somebody with experience can identify it based on the antennal setae and plumose abdominal setae that we can see from you fantastic photo.

… Omar Fahmy, 21 December, 2007 - 11:06am

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Thanks, Omar

Well, I wasn't expecting an Anopheles, but I guess this was nevertheless an exciting find for me. It looked so unlike any other mosquito larvae I have encountered so far!
Thanks for taking a look. Your help is always appreciated.

… Stephen Luk, 22 December, 2007 - 10:32am

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