World's Biggest' Mosquito With 11.15 cm Long Wings Found in China (Watch Video)
Chinese entomologist Zhao Li during a field inspection at Qingcheng mountain in Sichuan province found the insect.
A Chinese expert got hold of world's largest mosquito during a field inspection in August 2017. Chinese entomologist Zhao Li during a field inspection at Qingcheng mountain in Sichuan province found the insect. It is said to be the world's largest mosquito species originating in Japan. Also, World Malaria Day is observed on April 25 to raise awareness about the illness.
A holorusia mikado's wingspan is about 8cm, and the one that the expert caught is nearly a third shorter than the one captured by Zhao. He said that holorusia mikado mosquitoes found in China's Sichuan Province are bigger than the ones found in Japan.
While it is also known as crane fly in the West, Zhao insisted that the one he saw was a mosquito. Zhao, who is a senior biological engineer and senior wild animal protection engineer, said that the entire insect family of Tipulidae is called crane fly which in Chinese means 'big mosquito'.
Watch the video of World's Largest Mosquito here:
Talking from the biological point of view, Zhao said that a mosquito is an insect belonging to the Nematocera insect group. Daily Mail quoted him as saying, "There are a wide definition and a narrow definition of the mosquito family. Under the narrow definition, only a mosquito that bites is a mosquito. Different countries have different ways to call and define insects, but from a biological perspective, holorusia mikados are categorised as mosquitoes."
The mosquito that Zhao found has been turned into a specimen to be displayed in the Insect Museum of West China. Like other mosquitos, the one that Zhao found did not bite people. He said that the insect supported itself with the nutrition it had taken in as a larva.
The lifespan of a holorusia mikado mosquito is about a week. The mosquito's specimen will be kept for public view during an exhibition about strange insects in the Insect Museum of West China in May.
(The above story first appeared on LatestLY on Apr 25, 2018 05:06 PM IST. For more news and updates on politics, world, sports, entertainment and lifestyle, log on to our website latestly.com).