Close-up of a mosquito feeding on blood

Title	Close-up of a mosquito feeding on blood
Description	This 2006 photograph depicted a female Aedes aegypti mosquito while she was in the process of acquiring a blood meal from her human host, who in this instance, was actually the biomedical photographer, James Gathany, here at the Centers for Disease Control. The feeding apparatus consisted of a sharp, orange-colored 'fascicle' that was covered in a soft, pliant sheath called the 'labellum' while not feeding. The labellum was shown here retracted as the sharp 'stylets' contained within pierced the host's skin surface, thereby, allowing the insect to obtain its blood meal. The orange color of the fascicle was due to the red color of the blood as it migrated up the thin, sharp translucent tube. Note the distended abdominal exoskeleton, which being translucent, allowed the color of the ingested blood meal to be visible.
By	CDC/ Prof. Frank Hadley Collins, Dir., Cntr. for Global Health and Infectious Diseases, Univ. of Notre Dame acquired from Public Health Image Library (Website)
Views	1,779
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Dimensions	3736 x 2468
File Size	2.3 MB
Added	Apr 17, 2012
License	Public Domain
PD Info	This image is a work of the United States government and is not entitled to domestic copyright protection under U.S. law.