Long-legged mosquitoes (karamora) are the indigenous inhabitants of nature in the middle zone and beyond. They can be found all over the globe. The family of these insects includes several thousand species. You can meet a clumsy centipede with long legs both in the European part of Russia and in Siberia, the Far East, the Urals, throughout the entire length of Ukraine and Belarus. It’s easier to say where these creatures don’t live.
Representatives have an unpleasant, intimidating appearance and quite respectable size.
And given that they are called mosquitoes, many believe that these insects also bite. Does a lamp help against mosquitoes?
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In fact, it turns out that the centipede mosquito gathers around itself more myths than truth. Next we will talk about these strange and unpleasant-looking inhabitants of forests, meadows and vegetable gardens.
What are large mosquitoes called?
There are more than 4,000 species of dipteran insects around the world. You can meet them in almost every corner of the Earth on all continents. In this article we will talk about one of the types of insects, which many people mistakenly confuse with blood-sucking pests. In Russia, a large mosquito is called a centipede or karamora. People call this insect a ballerina or a red mosquito. Some midge mosquitoes are reddish in color, but most are gray in color. In the photo you can see what a regular caramora looks like.
Characteristic features of a ballerina are elongated legs and long antennae. The size of the insect, as a rule, does not exceed 5-6 centimeters. However, in tropical latitudes there are caramors, the body size of which reaches up to 10 centimeters.
This “giant” is very difficult not to notice in the summer among the army of buzzing mosquitoes. In reality, centipedes do not pose a serious danger to humans. Karamora is most active at night. These harmless dipterans fly into the apartment, attracted by the light of a chandelier or table lamp. The centipede will fly around the room for a long time, bumping into furniture and sometimes the owners of the house.
Because of its long legs, it is difficult for the insect to move and escape from enemies. A ballerina can easily part with several long legs without harming her life. Thus, killing a large mosquito due to its inactivity during daylight hours will not be difficult.
Karamora lives in places with high and moderate humidity. The insect can be found in the forest, in the swamp, as well as in the valleys of rivers, streams and other bodies of water. Karamora avoids places with low humidity and temperature. It is impossible to meet a centipede in the Antarctic, Arctic or desert.
Habitat
It’s hard to say where centipedes live. It's easier to say where these creatures don't live. Giant mosquitoes thrive all over the planet. They can be found both in central Russia, the black earth regions of Ukraine, the steppe zone of Kazakhstan, and in tropical forests. They have conquered the whole world. They are not found except in extremely dry areas (deserts), as well as in very cold regions of the planet (Arctic, Antarctic).
The habitat is as wide as possible. Representatives of the family prefer damp, moderately warm places. A real haven for long-legged mosquitoes is swampy areas, forests with abundant smoldering, decaying leaf cover. Natural habitats are not the only option. For lack of a better place, mosquitoes can easily make their home in garden beds or improvised flower beds within the city. They have amazing adaptability, which has developed over millions of years of development.
Features of habitats dictate the characteristics and nature of nutrition, daily activity and lifestyle of adult individuals. And this is where most of the myths about these insects lie.
Is a large mosquito dangerous to humans?
Many people mistakenly confuse the caramora with the malaria mosquito. However, the body sizes of these two insects are noticeably different: the malaria mosquito is much smaller. The thin body of the centipede is brownish-gray in color. The ballerina has the following features:
- big size. This species of mosquito is the largest in the world;
- the insect does not bite because it does not have the organs appropriate for this purpose;
- can harm plants;
- if necessary, it can throw away its paws. This autonomy allows the insects to evade the enemy.
Thus, we can say that caramora does not pose a serious danger to humans.
Appearance and dimensions
The main difference between the Karamore is the non-standard length of the legs. Thanks to her, the mosquito has another name - long-legged. The insect has an oblong head with 12-19 segments and large mesh eyes. His body is slender, his abdomen is elongated. Males are distinguished by a thickened tip of the body, females by an elongated one.
The forewings are translucent and narrow, and in certain species they are also variegated. The hind ones are presented in the form of short processes that play the role of a stabilizer during flight. The size of the largest mosquito can vary greatly: from 2 mm to 6 cm. Individual representatives reach 10 cm in length.
You need to understand that the mosquito owes its dimensions to the length of its legs, since its body is quite small. If the insect is in danger, then when it takes off, it leaves one limb in the attacker’s mouth. Scientists call this event autotomy, that is, self-mutilation.
How long do they live?
The period of Karamora activity begins in the second half of July and reaches its peak in the last month of summer. The insect lays eggs in moist soil: peat bogs, muddy banks, and so on. In such maximum comfortable conditions, the development time of future ballerinas takes about 12-15 days.
In moist soil, caramora eggs go through several stages of development. If the thermometer does not exceed 15 degrees Celsius, the future centipedes pupate and only two weeks later adults are born. If the female laid eggs later in the fall, they stop developing and sleep all winter, waiting for more favorable conditions. This period can be up to 11 months.
In comfortable conditions with moderate humidity, the caramora manages to reproduce no more than one generation of insects per year.
Should you be afraid of the haymaker?
Pholcidae live in human homes, often annoying them with their appearance and ubiquitous webs. This negative attitude gave rise to the legend that arachnids have the most dangerous venom of all spiders. The stories are fueled by the fact that pholcids hunt other poisonous "brethren" that can cause serious trouble to the person they bite.
In reality, haymaking spiders throw webs over their poisonous victims and immobilize them. The process is carried out at a safe distance. Pholcids eat prey after it loses its ability to cause harm.
Small and weak chelicerae cannot pierce the thick skin of people. The poison is slightly toxic to insects and poses no danger to humans. When bitten, you may feel a slight burning sensation, but this is a reaction to an external irritant.
What do big mosquitoes eat?
Female centipedes, like males, feed exclusively on plant nectar and the juices of rotting fruits and vegetables, or do not feed at all. The caramora receives all the nutrients necessary for life in the larval stage.
Karamor larvae cannot be called as harmless. They can cause significant damage to agricultural crops. Delicacies include rice, corn and sunflowers. After birth, ballerina larvae feed on humus or algae if they fall into the water. Large mosquitoes eat the larvae of blood-sucking representatives of their order.
Stages of development
The female of the largest mosquito in the world lays glossy black elongated or round eggs covered with a dense, opaque shell. She does this in water: a lake, a pond, an ordinary puddle. Eggs can be left to “ripen” in rotting wood or in damp moss.
After about a week, the larvae hatch from them and begin to feed on the surrounding organic matter. They live in a damp environment:
- Decaying trees;
- Soil;
- Forest turf;
- Unsalted reservoirs.
They have a well-developed, large head with impressive jaws, allowing them to consume plant remains and gnaw on living rhizomes.
Having emerged from the eggs, the larvae try to hide. To do this, they turn over, clinging to the water film with their tiny tails. In case of danger, they dive to the bottom, where they mature, feeding on algae.
After pupation, they take on a loose cylindrical shape. The covers of their legs are well drawn to the body, parts of the abdomen are decorated with spines arranged in a transverse order. With the help of the latter, the pupae easily slip out of soft earth or wood dust.
Do they bite or not?
The most important questions that haunt many adults and children: do large mosquitoes bite people and what will happen if a large mosquito bites? The fear of this insect is completely justified; seeing a mosquito of such impressive size is difficult to remain calm. However, there is no need to worry, the ballerina does not have piercing bristles, which can be used to pierce the skin. Therefore, the centipede simply physically cannot drink human blood.
The caramora can feed on the nectar of plants thanks to its long proboscis. There are a sufficient number of insects that have absolutely no need for a food source. After emerging from the chrysalis state, the ballerina's main task is to reproduce and lay eggs.
Symptoms of malaria
When the disease enters the active stage, a person develops the following symptoms:
- severe chills accompanied by trembling in the body;
- febrile state with an increase in body temperature to high values;
- painful sensations in the joints;
- convulsive syndrome;
- repeated vomiting;
- the development of anemia when protozoa of the genus Plasmodium attach to red blood cells, which cause further death of the latter;
- unpleasant sensation of “goosebumps” on the skin;
- enlarged spleen;
- disruption of blood supply to the brain;
- intense headache of a regular nature.
The patient may have yellowness of the skin and whites of the eyes. Such signs appear with severe liver damage by plasmodia. Bilirubin increases in the blood, which turns the skin yellow. The sweat glands begin to work harder, which is why there is increased sweating.
The patient's condition is weak and dejected, there is no appetite. The person lies in bed and may experience convulsions and confusion. The progression of the disease leads to significant pallor of the skin, severe dizziness when trying to move the body to a horizontal position.
Are they dangerous for humans?
Despite the fact that the caramora is completely indifferent to blood, the insect poses a serious problem for agricultural land. The following representatives of the order Diptera insects can cause the greatest harm:
- Marsh Centipede;
- Cabbage caramora;
- Autumn ballerina.
These pests have a detrimental effect on plant crops that love moisture. Caramora larvae can destroy a significant part of the crop sown on wet mineral soil and peat bogs. Ballerina can harm berries, legumes, root crops and cereals. Cultivated pastures located near water are most susceptible to mass attack by caramora larvae.
In the summer, centipede larvae are fought, like all pests, with the help of modern insecticidal agents and fall plowing is done. In summer cottages, the same methods are used to combat ballerina. However, if there is no body of water near your site, there is nothing to worry about; the larvae will not be able to damage the crop.
Now you know how dangerous large mosquitoes are.
Peculiarities
Where do mosquitoes come from and how long do they live after they bite? Most often, these insects enter the house from the street, where they breed. That is why they cause so much inconvenience to humans in winter. Mosquitoes are weaker and easier to kill. The mosquito attacks a person as soon as it senses him. An insect can hunt for a long time, because its main goal is to bite.
During a bite, a kind of exchange occurs: the mosquito takes blood from its victim and gives saliva. It prevents coagulation and the insect is able to “enjoy” its prey for a long time. The substance found in the mosquito’s saliva causes discomfort at the affected area, causing redness and itching. It causes severe allergic reactions in people with sensitive skin. The lifespan of female mosquitoes is approximately forty to one hundred days. It all depends on the ambient temperature. Males live much shorter lives.
Signs for a spider
Fortune tellers and soothsayers, and old people are sure that the web cleanses the home of negativity, absorbing negative energy, and does not allow illness into the house. Therefore, you cannot kill spiders on purpose; it is better to catch them and take them outside.
If house spiders appear in the apartment, you should expect improvement, quick success and the appearance of money. The same applies if the spider is on your head or arm.
Descending spider - guests will arrive soon or a message will arrive, but there will be an unfavorable time in financial matters. And a spider rising upward promises improvement and stability. If you see a spider hurrying upstairs in the evening, you should wait for your wish to come true.
