The rain and recent hot weather brought lots of mosquitoes, so it has been a summer for plenty of insect repellent when working in the garden or near the bush. The main culprits are the small common mosquitoes but we also see a few of the large greys, that are known as "Hexham Greys" for the area where they are reportedly quite common or "Scotch Greys" which I can only assume is because "they like a drop". One landed on me when I just happened to have the camera in my hand, so I got a couple of photos as it had a sip, then it got slapped.
They are about four times the size of the common mosquito and surprisingly they don't sting nearly as much. In looking up the identity I found there is another that looks very similar so not totally sure that it is Aedles alternans but that is the most commonly recorded, so that is the identity assumed. They appear to be more common towards the tropical regions, however it is not known whether they are carriers of any serious disease.
Fortunately for me mosquito bites apart from being annoying do not cause any itching but there is the risk of Ross River or Barmah Forest fever in our area.
In the last photo the proboscis is just visible and the abdomen is quite full with my blood.
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