The Detail Of The Pattern Is Movement

Elephant trunk snake (Acrochordus javanicus) in Indonesia

“Yea, yea you!”

My name is A. albopictus, of family culicidae, subgenus stegomyia, genus Aedes and of the order diptera.

“But you humans may call a mosquito. The more scientific of you call me asian tiger mosquito or forest mosquito. All three names are correct identifiers for my species. It is a pleasure to meet you, even if you (rightfully) do not feel the same. But I still have something to tell you regardless of that.”

I acknowledge that I am a spreader of deadly diseases, like malaria, Zika, yellow fever, west nile, the like. I also acknowledge that I drink your blood. I’m a devious, sometimes deadly little bug. I don’t intend to do those things, well, atleast not the disease spreading part, the diseases hitch a ride. That’s not a thing I can control. I do suck blood, yea. I’m a parasite, it’s what I do to reach reproductive age and survive, it’s just like how the hawk catches the songbirds or the antelope eats grass. Or, or if you want someone more familiar— how the butterfly drinks nectar. You are our unwitting flower and I am the world’s ugliest butterfly. I don’t particularly want to suck your blood for any malicious reasons, you’re just a large animal full of my food source and like you and every other animal I’ve mentioned and will mention, my species needs to eat. Evolution has dictated that the females of my species must drink blood to survive, I’m sorry, I didn’t choose to do this, millions of years of evolution push to me to choose survival over yours.

But that’s not why I landed on your arm today, I want to do something else. (I promise!) I just want to soapbox that, for you, will be just a moment of your time. I just have something to do say to you.”

Your discomfort of me should not constitute the extinction of my species.

“Should I be culled? Yes. Populations of mosquitoes are invasive in many places and deadly in others. However, controlled culls by entomologists, scientists and researchers and volunteers are an entirely different from mindless, thoughtless extermination of a species without any understanding of the value any species has to their ecosystem and research value they could potentially have.”

“I am a prey item to many of the animals you love (and hate just as much as me, sometimes!) here is some of my rogues gallery of personal villains who eat me and my children to survive!”

“Many of whom, are endangered.”

—— OOC —-

Orache moth, Trachea atriplicis, Noctuidae

Photographed in France by Matthieu Berroneau

Rainbow Parrotfish (Scarus guacamaia), family Scaridae, order Labriformes, off the coast of Florida, USA