Small like a one cent coin (Credit: José Luís Ordóñez, CREAF)
There are three basic details in which you need to pay attention if you want to differentiate a tiger mosquito (Aedes albopictus) from a yellow fever mosquito (Aedes aegypti). With the naked eye both Aedes are small like a one euro cent coin and they have lines on their legs and abdomen, but there some helpful tips to differentiate them.
The Mosquito Alert app is prepared for identifying mosquitoes from the app. Thus, the expert validation process will be easier.
1- Shape of the thorax lines
Yellow fever mosquito have 4 lines of white scales in a shape of a lyre on the dorsal side of the thorax, two of them are bold and the two others are thin.
Tiger mosquito has one single white scale on the top of the thorax, drawing a straight line covering its head.
2 – The colour
The yellow fever mosquito is dark brown.
The tiger mosquito is black.
3 – The scales of the abdomen
The yellow fever mosquito has one perpendicular white scale in every single segment of the abdomen, ending with a white spot on the lateral sides.
The tiger mosquito has one similar scale but thinner, with triangular spots on the laterals.
Thorax drawings: Left: tiger mosquito; right: yellow fever mosquito. Credits: José Luís Ordóñez, CREAF
Abdomen. Left: tiger mosquito; right: yellow fever mosquito. Credits: José Luís Ordóñez, CREAF
Have you seen a mosquito and you think it’s one of those?
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