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Toxorhynchites; Temporal range: Miocene–Present PreꞒ Ꞓ O S D C P T J K Pg N
	Toxorhynchites speciosus
	Toxorhynchites speciosus larvae
Scientific classification
Kingdom:	Animalia
Phylum:	Arthropoda
Class:	Insecta
Order:	Diptera
Family:	Culicidae
Subfamily:	Culicinae
Tribe:	Toxorhynchitini
Genus:	Toxorhynchites; Theobald, 1901
Species
	See text.

Toxorhynchites, also called elephant mosquitoes or mosquito eaters, is a genus of diurnal and often relatively colorful mosquitoes, found worldwide between about 35° north and 35° south. Most species occur in forests. It includes the largest known species of mosquito, at up to 18 mm (0.71 in) in length and 24 mm (0.94 in) in wingspan.^[1] It is among the few kinds of mosquito that do not consume blood. The adults subsist on carbohydrate-rich materials, such as honeydew, or saps and juices from damaged plants, refuse, fruit, and nectar.^[2]

Mating in mid-air, males and females synchronize their wing beats to the same frequency.^[3]^[4] Eggs are deposited by flinging them onto water surfaces while hovering.^[3] They are either white or yellow in color, with an incubation period of 40–60 hours depending on the temperature. The older the female mosquito, the less likely the eggs will be healthy.^[5]

In contrast to blood-sucking species of mosquitoes, their larvae prey on the larvae of other mosquitoes and similar nektonic prey, making Toxorhynchites beneficial to humans.^[1] Living on this protein and fat rich diet, females have no need to risk their lives sucking blood in adulthood, having already accumulated the necessary materials for oogenesis and vitellogenesis. The larvae of one jungle variety, Toxorhynchites splendens, consume larvae of other mosquito species occurring in tree crevices, particularly Aedes aegypti.

Environmental scientists have suggested that Toxorhynchites mosquitoes be introduced to areas outside their natural range in order to fight dengue fever. This has been practiced historically, but errors have been made. For example, when intending to introduce T. splendens to new areas, scientists actually introduced T. amboinensis.^[5]

An extinct species T. mexicanus is known from Miocene age Mexican amber.^[6]

Species

The genus Toxorhynchites is divided into 4 subgenera and contains 90 species also including 1 extinct species:^[7]

Subgenus (Toxorhynchites)

Toxorhynchites acaudatus (Leicester, 1908)
Toxorhynchites albipes (Edwards, 1922)
Toxorhynchites amboinensis (Doleschall, 1857)
Toxorhynchites angustiplatus Evenhuis and Steffan, 1986
Toxorhynchites ater (Daniels, 1908)
Toxorhynchites auranticauda Lane, 1992
Toxorhynchites auripes Edwards, 1935
Toxorhynchites barbipes Edwards, 1913
Toxorhynchites bengalensis Rosenberg and Evenhuis, 1985
Toxorhynchites bickleyi Thurman, 1959
Toxorhynchites brevipalpis Theobald, 1991

Toxorhynchites camaronis Ribeiro, 1991
Toxorhynchites christophi Portschinsky, 1884
Toxorhynchites coeruleus (Brug, 1934)
Toxorhynchites darjeelingensis Tyagi, Munirathinam, Krishnamoorthy et al., 2015
Toxorhynchites dundo Ribeiro, 1991}
Toxorhynchites edwardsi (Barraud, 1924)
Toxorhynchites evansae (Edwards, 1936)
Toxorhynchites funestus (Leicester, 1908)
Toxorhynchites gigantulus Dyar & Shannon, 1925
Toxorhynchites gravelyi (Edwards, 1921)
Toxorhynchites indicus Evenhuis and Steffan, 1986
Toxorhynchites inornatus (Walker, 1865)
Toxorhynchites kempi (Edwards, 1921)
Toxorhynchites klossi (Edwards, 1921)
Toxorhynchites leicesteri Theobald, 1904
Toxorhynchites lewisi Ribeiro, 1991
Toxorhynchites macaensis Ribeiro, 1997
Toxorhynchites magnificus (Leicester, 1908)
Toxorhynchites manicatus (Edwards, 1921)
Toxorhynchites manopi Thurman, 1959
Toxorhynchites metallicus Leicester, 1904
Toxorhynchites minimus (Theobald, 1905)
Toxorhynchites nepenthicola Steffan and Evenhuis, 1982
Toxorhynchites nepenthis (Dyar and Shannon, 1925)
Toxorhynchites nigripes (Edwards, 1935)
Toxorhynchites okinawensis Toma, Miyagi and Tanaka, 1990
Toxorhynchites pendleburyi (Edwards, 1930)
Toxorhynchites phytophagus Theobald, 1909
Toxorhynchites quasiferox (Leicester, 1908)
Toxorhynchites rajah Tsukamoto, 1986
Toxorhynchites ramalingami Evenhuis and Steffan, 1986
- Toxorhynchites raris (Leicester, 1908)

Toxorhynchites rickenbachi Ribeiro, 1991
Toxorhynchites rodhaini Ribeiro, 1991
Toxorhynchites speciosus (Skuse, 1889)
Toxorhynchites splendens (Wiedemann, 1819)
Toxorhynchites sumatranus (Brug, 1939)
Toxorhynchites sunthorni Thurman, 1959
Toxorhynchites towadensis (Matsumara, 1916)
Toxorhynchites tyagii Krishnamoorthy et al., 2013
Toxorhynchites domrey Maquart & Rahola,2023

Subgenus (Afrorhynchus)

Toxorhynchites aeneus (Evans, 1926)
Toxorhynchites angolensis Ribeiro, 1992
Toxorhynchites brunhesi Ribeiro, 2004
Toxorhynchites capelai Ribeiro, 1992
Toxorhynchites erythrurus (Edwards, 1941)
Toxorhynchites fontenillei Ribeiro, 2004
Toxorhynchites grjebinei Ribeiro, 2004
Toxorhynchites helenae Ribeiro, 1992
Toxorhynchites kaimosi (van Someren, 1946)
Toxorhynchites lemuriae Ribeiro, 2004
Toxorhynchites lutescens (Theobald, 1901)
Toxorhynchites madagascarensis Ribeiro, 2004
Toxorhynchites nairobiensis (van Someren, 1946)
Toxorhynchites nigeriensis Ribeiro, 2005
Toxorhynchites pauliani (Doucet, 1951)
Toxorhynchites ruwenzori (van Someren, 1948)
Toxorhynchites viridibasis (Edwards, 1935)
Toxorhynchites wolfsi Ribeiro, 2005
Toxorhynchites zairensis Ribeiro, 2005

Subgenus (Ankylorhynchus)

Toxorhynchites catharinensis (da Costa Lima, Guitoon and Ferreira, 1962)
Toxorhynchites hexacis Martini, 1901
Toxorhynchites purpureus Theobald, 1901
Toxorhynchites trichopygus Wiedemann, 1828

Subgenus (Lynchiella)

Toxorhynchites bambusicola Lutz and Neiva, 1913
Toxorhynchites cavalierii García and Casal, 1967
Toxorhynchites gerbergi Belkin, 1977
Toxorhynchites grandiosus Williston, 1900
Toxorhynchites guadeloupensis Dyar and Knab, 1906
Toxorhynchites haemorrhoidalis Fabricius, 1787
Toxorhynchites hypoptes (Knab, 1907)
Toxorhynchites mariae Bourroul, 1904
Toxorhynchites moctezuma Dyar and Knab, 1906
Toxorhynchites portoricensis Roeder, 1885^[8]
Toxorhynchites pusillus Lima, 1931
Toxorhynchites rizzoi (de Deus Palma and Galvão, 1969)
Toxorhynchites rutilus Coquillett, 1896
Toxorhynchites solstitialis Lutz, 1904
Toxorhynchites theobaldi Dyar and Knab, 1906
Toxorhynchites violaceus Wiedemann, 1821
Toxorhynchites caatingensis Andrade & Corte, 2021

References

^ ^a ^b Cook, G.C.; Zumla, A (2009). Manson's Tropical Diseases (22 ed.). Saunders Elsevier. p. 1735. ISBN 978-1-4160-4470-3.
^ Bonnet, D. D.; Hu, S. M. K. (1951). "The Introduction of Toxorhynchites brevipalpis Theobald into the Territory of Hawaii". Proceedings of the Hawaiian Entomological Society. 14 (2): 237–242. hdl:10125/16231.
^ ^a ^b Hansen, Cypress (19 August 2021). "The Secret Lives of Mosquitoes, the World's Most Hated Insects". Smithsonian Voices.
^ Gibson, Gabriella; Russell, Ian (July 2006). "Flying in Tune: Sexual Recognition in Mosquitoes". Current Biology. 16 (13): 1311–1316. Bibcode:2006CBio...16.1311G. doi:10.1016/j.cub.2006.05.053. PMID 16824918. S2CID 11833769.
^ ^a ^b Collins, Larissa E.; Blackwell, Alison (2000). "The biology of Toxorhynchites mosquitoes and their potential as biocontrol agents". Biocontrol News and Information. 21 (4): 105–116.
^ Zavortink, Thomas J.; Poinar, George O. (January 2008). "Toxorhynchites (toxorhynchites) mexicanus, N. SP. (Diptera: Culicidae) from Mexican amber: A New World species with Old World affinities". Proceedings of the Entomological Society of Washington. 110 (1): 116–125. doi:10.4289/0013-8797-110.1.116. S2CID 85578548.
^ Toxorhynchites at the Integrated Taxonomic Information System.
^ Röder, V. von (1885). "Diptera von Insel Portorico". Entomologische Zeitung [de]. 46: 337–349.

External links

Toxorhynchites at the Walter Reed Biosystematics Unit
Video showing larvae of Toxorhynchites rutilus feeding on other mosquito larvae

[Cook2009-1] Cook, G.C.; Zumla, A (2009). Manson's Tropical Diseases (22 ed.). Saunders Elsevier. p. 1735. ISBN 978-1-4160-4470-3.

[2] Bonnet, D. D.; Hu, S. M. K. (1951). "The Introduction of Toxorhynchites brevipalpis Theobald into the Territory of Hawaii". Proceedings of the Hawaiian Entomological Society. 14 (2): 237–242. hdl:10125/16231.

[SecretLives-3] Hansen, Cypress (19 August 2021). "The Secret Lives of Mosquitoes, the World's Most Hated Insects". Smithsonian Voices.

[4] Gibson, Gabriella; Russell, Ian (July 2006). "Flying in Tune: Sexual Recognition in Mosquitoes". Current Biology. 16 (13): 1311–1316. Bibcode:2006CBio...16.1311G. doi:10.1016/j.cub.2006.05.053. PMID 16824918. S2CID 11833769.

[Collins_&_Blackwell_2000-5] Collins, Larissa E.; Blackwell, Alison (2000). "The biology of Toxorhynchites mosquitoes and their potential as biocontrol agents". Biocontrol News and Information. 21 (4): 105–116.

[6] Zavortink, Thomas J.; Poinar, George O. (January 2008). "Toxorhynchites (toxorhynchites) mexicanus, N. SP. (Diptera: Culicidae) from Mexican amber: A New World species with Old World affinities". Proceedings of the Entomological Society of Washington. 110 (1): 116–125. doi:10.4289/0013-8797-110.1.116. S2CID 85578548.

[7] Toxorhynchites at the Integrated Taxonomic Information System.

[8] Röder, V. von (1885). "Diptera von Insel Portorico". Entomologische Zeitung [de]. 46: 337–349.