The males have a large set of antennas used to smell nectar and females. Both the sexes are important pollinators of flowers, but the female is the only one with a well developed proboscis. The proboscis on the female is a specialized mouth part, and is a critical component in the collection of high protein mammal blood. The female requires the blood to both manufacture her eggs and lay them. All of my images are of female mosquitoes.
Mosquitoes are also an important vector for diseases.
Although mosquitoes can carry a number of serious illness, here in the upper areas of New York State, such illnesses are rare. Still the local conservation center checks mosquito populations for vectors like encephalitis. Finding the local population free of diseases, allowed me to safely take 16mm film footage for a film commission. After trying a number of unsuccessful techniques, I was able to devise a method to get the shot. I used a 55 mm macro lens on an extension that increased the magnification at the film plane to 1.4 times life size.