General description

Asian Tiger Mosquito

Aedes albopictus

The Asian Tiger mosquito is native to subtropical and tropical areas of Southeast Asia. However, over the past 30 years, this insect has taken advantage of the increase in transport of goods and international trade and established itself in many different countries all over the world. These include the Americas, Caribbean, Africa, the Middle East and parts of Europe. For example, in 1985, the mosquito arrived in Houston, North America on used tyre shipments from Asia. Since then it has spread extremely rapidly (especially to the North and East) throughout many states. Although the species has not yet arrived in the UK, the Health Protection Agency has identified it as in insect with a high potential to arrive and establish in the UK sometime in the near future.

The Asian Tiger mosquito is around 2 to 10mm in length and gets its name from the very recognisable black and white striped appearance. The most precise way to identify the mosquito is the presence of a single silvery-white line of tight scales that starts between the eyes and continues down the dorsal side of the thorax. The females are roughly 20% larger than the males and have an elongated proboscis to collect blood for her eggs. The females are ‘container’ breeders, meaning she will lay her eggs in artificial containers that hold water, for example, buckets, old car tyres and tree holes. The larvae turn into pupae after around 5 to 10 days and 2 days later the adult mosquito emerges.

Pictures (top right) from the top down:

Adult female Asian Tiger mosquito

Tyres are a good breeding ground for females

Distribution of the Asian Tiger mosquito in the US by county (2000)

In text figures:

Asian Tiger mosquito larvae

Asian tiger mosquito life cycle