Toxorhynchites rutilus belongs to a genus of unique mosquitoes. These beautiful, giant mosquitoes are one of the few mosquitoes that do not use blood to complete their lifecycles. The iridescent adults feed only on nectar and have special curved proboscises for feeding on flowers. Their larvae are quite large and feed on the larvae of other mosquitoes. Toxorhynchites larvae, like all mosquito larvae, are aquatic. When they have eaten all other available mosquito larvae in the body of water within which they are confined, they will attack each other. This fratricide is often carried out until only one Toxorhynchites larva remains. These vicious larvae seem to attack and murder each other simply for the sake of killing, the uneaten corpses allowed to sink and rot. Wanton killing of prey without feeding is something that has also been observed. Toxorhynchites species are uncommon due to the hostile nature of their larvae. Despite this, they have been used in the successful control of "container-breeding" mosquitoes in Japan, Southeast Asia, the Caribbean and the U.S.A. The specimens pictured were collected in Westchester Co., NY and are probably the subspecies T. r. septentrionalis. Rare in temperate zones, the other 70 species of Toxorhynchites are found mainly in forested tropical regions throughout the world.