Head of Mosquito Larvae

The larval head capsule is dorsoventrally flattened and heavily sclerotised. It consists of three principal regions, the large dorsal apotome, the bulging lateralia and the midventral labiogula. The lateralia are separated on either side of the dorsal apotome by a frontal ecdysial line; they are separated from the ventral labiogula by a complete or incomplete hypostomal suture, or an imaginary line extending from the maxillary articulation to the posterior tentorial pit when the hypostomal suture is absent. A dorsal plate of the labrum, the median labral plate, is either fused with the anterior margin of the dorsal apotome or separated from it by a clypeolabral suture. The posterior opening of the head (occipital foramen) is usually partially or completely surrounded by a thickened rim-like collar.

The head of the mosquito larva is basically prognathous. The mouthparts, therefore, are considered as anterior appendages. The mandibles and maxillae exhibit a wealth of taxonomic characters that, unfortunately, are not extensively used in mosquito taxonomy. A lateral palatal brush (mouth[/no-lexcion] brush) is borne anteriorly on either side of the mouth. In most larvae, the brushes consist of numerous slender setae with fine pectination on one side, but in predatory larvae these setae are much thicker and greatly reduced in number. The antennae (sing. antenna) may be finely or coarsely spiculate, or lack spicules. The development and placement of seta 1-A is taxonomically important. In Coquillettidia, Mansonia and Mimomyia, the distal part of the [no-lexicon]antenna is elongate and distinctly articulated beyond setae 2,3-A. Only about six setae of the head capsule are used regularly for identification.

A dark triangular structure called the dorsomentum is situated ventrally behind the mouth. Its size and shape and the number and arrangement of its teeth provide characters for distinguishing some species. There are two eyes on either side of the head. The larger kidney-shaped one is the developing compound eye of the adult; the smaller posterior one is the  simple larval eye, the stemma.