Culex pipiens Insect Mosquito Mosquitoe Small Little Fly Parasite Diptera Hematophagus Nematocera

Culex pipiens mm 4-6 Insect Mosquito Mosquitoe Small Little Fly Parasite Diptera Hematophagus Nematocera.
Family: Culicidae.
Common name: Common Mosquito, Common House Mosquito or Northern House Mosquito.

The common mosquito (Culex pipiens Linnaeus, 1758) is the mosquito species belonging to the most common Culex genus in the northern hemisphere.
There are several subspecies that can be distinguished from each other only through microscopic analysis of the male reproductive system or biomolecular analysis. Among them we find: Culex pipiens pipiens and Culex pipiens molestus. C. pipiens pipiens is considered primarily ornithophilous, while C. pipiens molestus mainly mammophile. The two subspecies are interfertile and give rise to hybrids. C. pipiens is the main vector involved in the circulation of West Nile virus (WNV) and of the Usutu virus (USUV) in Italy.
This species preferably frequents rather hot and stagnant waters, but can also be found in shady forest environments, in pools and ditches rich in dead leaves and even wet houses. The mosquito is usually present in the summer.
The female needs blood to produce an optimal amount of eggs (up to about 200 for each deposition). If it does not find enough nectar it can feed on nectar but in these conditions it can not produce more than twenty eggs. These are deposited on the surface of stagnant water, even in very small volumes of water, e.g. in the saucers and tires of cars, which retain rainwater. The larvae emerge from those that manage to escape predation by fish and amphibians, which complete their development within the water. The larvae are part of the zooplankton and develop through successive mute, three that make them preserve the same aspect and the fourth leading to the transformation into nymph. The larvae must periodically come to the surface to breathe through a respiratory tube located in a caudal position that allows them to live in very oxygen-poor environments. The larvae swim by making characteristic movements in jerks that lead their body to assume an "S" shape.