Rosette Gall Midge vs Tundra Mosquito

Side-by-side species comparison

Attribute Rosette Gall Midge Tundra Mosquito
Scientific Name Dasineura urticae Aedes impiger
Order Diptera Diptera
Family Cecidomyiidae Culicidae
Size 1.5-2.5 mm 4-6 mm
Habitat Farmland Tundra & Arctic
Diet Gall Makers Blood Feeders
Regions Europe Canadian Arctic Archipelago, Greenland, Svalbard, northern Alaska
Conservation Least Concern Least Concern

Rosette Gall Midge

A tiny midge that causes distinctive rosette galls on the tips of stinging nettles. The growing tip is stunted and swollen. Very common wherever nettles grow.

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Did You Know?

The distinctive bunched rosette galls on nettle tips are so common that most people have seen them without knowing the cause.

Tundra Mosquito

A small but abundant Arctic mosquito with dark body and pale leg bands. It is one of the most northerly distributed mosquito species in the world. Larvae inhabit shallow tundra ponds warmed by continuous summer sunlight.

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Did You Know?

This mosquito has been found breeding at latitudes above 80 degrees north, among the most northerly insects on Earth.