Color photomacrographs made with electronic flash; post-capture digital composite
Cornell University, New York State Agricultural Experiment Station,
Geneva, New York, United States
In its pupal stage mosquitoes have a comma-shaped form which, unless disturbed, floats at the surface of the water while breathing through two small tubes called trumpets. When it is time for the adult to emerge from the pupal case, the insect straightens its abdomen - a cue to prepare to start photographing. The insect then uses pressure from trapped air beneath the pupal skin to split the case and emerge as an adult mosquito. In the first frame of this series the fissure can be seen on top of the pupal case. The transformation occurred in a petri dish that held mosquito larvae, water, and aquatic plants.
