An adult female yellow fever mosquito, Aedes aegypti (Linnaeus), with a newly-obtained fiery red blood meal visible through her now transparent abdomen. The now heavy female mosquito takes flight as she leaves her host's skin surface. After having filled with blood, the abdomen became distended, stretching the exterior exoskeletal surface, causing it to become transparent, and allowed the collecting blood to become visible as an enlarging intra-abdominal red mass. Note also the clearly defined head, mouth parts and legs.


Photograph by: Frank Hadley Collins, Center for Disease Control Public Health Image Library


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