Photo: Daniel Grill (Getty Images)
The most shocking part of this story is that this giant mosquito was not discovered in Australia.
According to The NY Post, a giant mosquito with a wingspan of more than four inches has been found. The mosquito belongs to the Holorusa mikado species, which is the largest mosquito family in the world. Just take a look at this thing:
A terrifying giant mosquito was discovered in China https://t.co/lcXcxzmPqd pic.twitter.com/wd5aidxQdG
— New York Post (@nypost) April 26, 2018
Holy hell. Why?
This thing is ten times longer than an average mosquito as it has a five cm-long body.
World’s biggest? Mosquito with a wing span of 11cm found in China pic.twitter.com/YLdLuxDKn8
— China Xinhua News (@XHNews) April 25, 2018
NY Post
Zhao Li, curator of the Insect Museum of West China, discovered the insect last August in Qincheng Mountain, within the Sichuan province. But he wanted to take his time and confirm that it really was the largest mosquito in the world before revealing the staggering discovery.
He told South China Morning Post: “These mosquitoes look horrendous, but do not feed on blood. The adults have a life span of only a few days and mainly feed on nectar. There are tens of thousands of types of mosquitoes in the world. Barely 100 species feed on blood and may be a problem for humans.”
Well, the good thing is these guys enjoy nectar and not human flesh, so we can all breathe easy. And if you happen to find yourself in China you can see this mosquito at Li’s museum.
