| Wyeomyia smithii | |
|---|---|
| |
| Female | |
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| Wyeomyia smithii larva magnified 40× | |
Scientific classification 
| |
| Domain: | Eukaryota |
| Kingdom: | Animalia |
| Phylum: | Arthropoda |
| Class: | Insecta |
| Order: | Diptera |
| Family: | Culicidae |
| Subfamily: | Culicinae |
| Tribe: | Sabethini |
| Genus: | Wyeomyia |
| Species: | W. smithii
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| Binomial name | |
| Wyeomyia smithii Coquillett, 1901
| |
Wyeomyia smithii, the pitcher plant mosquito, is an inquiline mosquito that completes its pre-adult life cycle in the phytotelma of—that is, the water contained by—the purple pitcher plant, Sarracenia purpurea. In this microcommunity of bacteria, rotifers, protozoa, and midges, W. smithii is the top-level predator; its presence determines the bacterial species diversity within the pitcher.[1]
W. smithii is not a pest mosquito in general. The northern US population does not consume blood at all, while the southern US populations only consume blood after laying an initial egg batch;[2][3] even then they appear disinterested in feeding. In fact, it is the only known mosquito to have both obligatory biting and non-biting populations in the same species.[4]
- ^ Celeste N. Peterson; Stephanie Day; Benjamin E. Wolfe; Aaron M. Ellison; Roberto Kolter & Anne Pringle (2008). "A keystone predator controls bacterial diversity in the pitcher-plant (Sarracenia purpurea) microecosystem" (PDF). Environmental Microbiology. 10 (9): 2257–2266. Bibcode:2008EnvMi..10.2257P. doi:10.1111/j.1462-2920.2008.01648.x. PMID 18479443.
- ^ Bradshaw, William E. (1980). "Blood-feeding and capacity for increase in the pitcher-plant mosquito, Wyeomyia smithii". Environmental Entomology. 9 (1): 86–89. doi:10.1093/ee/9.1.86.
- ^ D. Allen (2015). "Carbon dioxide sensitivity in two disjunct populations of the pitcher-plant mosquito, Wyeomyia smithii". Honors College Theses. University Honors Program Theses. 126. Georgia Southern University.
- ^ Armbruster, Peter A. (30 January 2018). "Molecular pathways to nonbiting mosquitoes". Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences. 115 (5): 836–838. Bibcode:2018PNAS..115..836A. doi:10.1073/pnas.1721209115. PMC 5798389. PMID 29330331.