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BugGuide Gathering
Smoky Mountains
University of Tennessee Biological Field Station
August 8-10, 2008
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Photos from the last gathering (Minnesota 2007)

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Photo#32451
mosquito

mosquito
hudson valley County, New York, USA
September 21, 2005
Size: 3 mm
is this a young one?

Chironomidae
As several have suggested, it is a chironomid. It is a male but the antennae aren't quite in focus.

Best guess
Well, I suppose Chironomid is my best guess. Which is not that great, but hey. Whaddya gonna do?

Oh yeah, this individual may likely be "young" in the sense that it looks recently emerged from its pupal stage, but with all insects (mayflies excluded) what you see as a winged stage is an adult. There will be no further modification to the body, save for internal chages, rotation of the genitalia (in mosquitoes), or loss of wings (as in termites).
In mosquitoes, we can tell a "young" individual, because the abdomen looks green, which results fom the retention of the meconium (not the same as in vertebrates). This coloration passes after a day or so.
Your specimen appears to have a "greenish" abdomen, so perhaps it is recently emerged.

 
thanks
interesting stuff

Nope.
This is not a mosquito. There is no proboscis, nor scales on the wings. It is a nematoceran midge, perhaps a chironomid, but then again perhaps not. I say this because it has male genitalia, but not plumose antennae.
I will check my books, as I am waiting for a tow truck and am killing time.

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