Mosquito teeth
Recently on the mosquito science mailing list, someone posted a question... Apparently they had found a "True Fact" on the underside of a Snapple bottle cap claiming that mosquitoes have 47 teeth. The poster was asking where this "true fact" came from.
I thought this reply was most enlightening:
I thought this reply was most enlightening:
- This Snapple 'fact' was discussed on the Entomology listserv about
two years ago, and I've fielded this question several times from
folks who believed (by reading the print in the cap) that mosquitoes
must 'chew' their food.
Mosquito larvae sport a variable number of pectin 'teeth', often
ranging from 5 to 12 teeth (even within larvae of the same species).
Furthermore, I've heard some folks colloquially refer as 'teeth' to
the rays of the larval labial fans, or the components of the adult
cibarial and/or phyrangeal armatures. Other 'tooth'-like structures
are present on mosquitoes. The maxillae of the adults, for instance,
are serrated near their terminal ends. The dentition patterns were
thought as early as the 1920's to offer a means to separate certain
races of Anopheles mosquitoes. More recently (1950's), M.T. Gilles
reassessed the dentition patterns of adults of the Anopheles
maculipennis complex, and if I recall correctly, was able to induce
variations in the dentition profile by rearing the mosquito larvae at
different temperatures. It would take a bit of digging, however, to
find the references and learn the magic number or numbers of teeth.
I'd be surprised if that number turned out to be 47, or even 42.
Perhaps, this would be a good exercise for a student with too much
time on his or her hands... and little prospect of contributing in
more meaningful ways. It might be more productive to switch to
another kind of beverage, the bottles of which are topped with caps
offering a chance to win a prize. Let's hope the ingredient
information printed on the Snapple labels is correct.
Richard J. Pollack, Ph.D.
Laboratory of Public Health Entomology
Harvard School of Public Health