How a Canadian photographer captured this stunning image of a dangerous mosquito | CBC Radio

The entomologist was on a trip to Ecuador a few years ago, studying another bug (the whip spider) when he laid eyes on the Sabethes mosquito.

“The first time I saw it, I’m not going to lie, it was like a slap in the face,” Wizen told As It Happens guest host Peter Armstrong.

The Sabethes mosquito is about five millimetres long and has a metallic-coloured body that shimmers in different colours. 

I’ve got bitten so many times, I cannot tell you, but it’s worth it– Gil Wizen, entomologist and photographer

According to Wizen, most of the time it shimmers in blue and green, but sometimes it turns purple. It also has six very long legs in blue and purple. 

“When I see an insect that I don’t know and it’s that impressive, there’s a moment I ask myself, ‘Am I still on Earth?’ Because this is so amazing,” he said.

Wizen went on to capture the “beautiful bloodsucker” and now that photo is being honoured in the Wildlife Photographer of the Year competition.

It took the entomologist five years of photographing the mosquito to get the perfect shot.

He wanted to frame the mosquito head-on and show its symmetry, all the way from its legs to its wings.

The day that he took his entry photo, a cloud of mosquitoes flew over him for a few hours as he snapped the tiny creatures from different angles.

“I’ve got bitten so many times, I cannot tell you, but it’s worth it,” he said. “It’s going to confuse a lot of people, but … just sharing a brief moment with this majestic animal is totally worth it.”

Sabethes mosquitos have another noteworthy feature, which made the process of capturing its photo more difficult.

The first and second pair of legs have “hair extensions” that look like feathers or paddles. A lot of people call those ornaments ‘leg warmers.’ 

But the hind legs are extremely long, resembling antennas, and they curve upward when the mosquito bites.

“The mosquito also swings them … waves them around from side to side and that’s because they are sensory,” Wizen said.

“Those legs help the mosquito detect if someone is going to swat it. And that’s how they evade us when they bite us. If we try to swat it, sometimes they take off faster. They feel the air currents coming in and they take off.”

Sabethes mosquitoes can also carry tropical diseases, like yellow fever and dengue. 

But only the females, like in other mosquitos, bite humans and take blood as a meal when they are ready to lay eggs. 

“That one will stick with you for a few hours, the pain,” Wizen said.

Written by Mehek Mazhar. Interview with Gil Wizen produced by Kate Swoger.