Posted May 21, 2018
Male mosquitos are often hard at work pollinating (while their girlfriends are working hard to get blood to help raise their next generation). The snag is that there are many flies that mimic mosquitos (and scores of insects that mimic the colors of bees).
Here in the Mayan Ethnobotanical Research Garden of FLAAR, in Guatemala City, today the mosquito or mosquito-like flies have been busy all weekend and today (Monday) I was able to get a photo of these fast-moving characters. Actually female mosquitos are also after nectar when they don’t have to think about a fresh brood of baby buggies. There are two plants in Guatemala with the common name of jaboncillo; this is Phytolacca icosandra.
Nikon D5 camera, handheld (since the flowers are blowing in the wind and I have to move quickly from flower to flower), ISO 2000, speed 1/500th of a second (because there is no realistic way to focus on the mosquitos when they are in flight, so faster speed is not that much help). F/9 to get the depth of field. Lens: AF-S Micro NIKKOR 60mm f/2.8G ED. Would be better next time to use 100mm because if you get too close with the 60mm you scare away the pollinator. So the lack of 1:1 of the 100mm is not that much of a disadvantage.
Mosquito like pollinator insect jaboncillo Phytolacca icosandra FLAAR garden.
Photo by Nicholas Hellmuth, FLAAR photo archive of flora and fauna of Mesoamerica.
We are at work preparing a bibliography on mosquito pollinators and “mosquito fly” pollinators. Here is one web page I enjoyed reading today: www.thoughtco.com/insects-mistaken-for-mosquitoes-1968308
