You will notice moving parts in the thorax of these mosquito larvae. I have not been able to identify these; one has 6 moving parts, and a larger one has 4 which do not move as much.
There are also moving parts at the tail end. They seem to swim around the inside of the tail, but I cannot yet identify these, either.
Mosquitos lay eggs in stagnant or slow-moving water. It takes only a few days for these eggs to hatch.
After mosquito eggs hatch, they enter a larval phase (each phase is called an instar), wiggling in water, often hanging head down but breathing air through a siphon (which looks like a flipper at the end of the larval body) from outside the water.
The mosquito larva's head has prominent mouth brushes used for feeding, with a large thorax (the section directly under the head), no legs, and a
9- segment abdomen.
The larva's heart is actually in the long abdomen, not in the thorax. It pushes hemolymph (which is a clear liquid comparable to blood in humans) usually towards the head. The heart works like a series of valves that pump by expanding and contracting.
The larvae wriggle around for a few days, where they will typically molt three to four times before moving on to the next phase of their life cycle. This molting can be four days to two weeks, depending on the species and water temperature. At this stage, they are most vulnerable to predators, anything blocking their breathing tubes, and bacteria.
The larvae usually stay just below the water’s surface, so they are easy to spot in areas of standing water.
Mosquito larvae feed on microorganisms in the water, such as algae, fungi, and bacteria. The "brushes" in the larval head help push food into the mouth.
After feeding and molting three to four times, the larvae develop into pupae.
Video taken with Hayear HY-500 camera, using Swift S-7 stereo zoom microscope Additional processing used Mac Photo.
Original song/video "Whimsimonic" by My-Fi Saloon @my-fisaloon8370