The tiger mosquito (Aedes albopictus) is a species of nematoceran dipteran belonging to the Culicidae family. It is characterized by its black coloration with white ornamentation on the thorax and abdomen, black and white banded legs and a conspicuous central longitudinal white line on the thorax and head. It has a length of between about 5 and 10 mm (millimeters). Like other species of mosquitoes, the female has a thin and elongated proboscis, the proboscis, which, like a stylet, it uses to bite and extract blood from vertebrates, especially mammals and birds, which it uses to develop the eggs as a proteins.