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All Australia Hexham Big Mosquito

Big Mosquito

Modeled after the big, ferocious Hexham Grey mosquito.

Hexham, Australia

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Nick Jackson
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Big Mosquito in Hexham, Australia. (Wikimedia Commons)   http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Australia%27s...
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Big Mosquito in Hexham, Australia. (Wikimedia Commons)   http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Australia%27s...
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About

Australia is home to more than just a couple of big things. The big country, it has been said, has a love of similarly-oversized objects. The Big Mosquito is only one of a loosely related set of about 150 sculptures and large structures sprinkled across the country. Most of these, the Big Mosquito included, serve as some of the country's top tourist traps and can be found along major roads and highways or between prominent travel destinations.

Built in 1993 at a cost of $17,200 and replaced in 2005 and 2010, Ossie the Mossie, as this giant bug is known, is modeled on the local Hexham Grey mosquito species. Surrounded by marshy swamplands and floodplains, Hexham, New South Wales, is an ideal location for mosquitoes, who breed and lay eggs in the moist environment. Known for their enormous size and ferocity, the Ochlerotatus alternans (Hexham Greys) is common in the area.

A suburb of Newcastle, Hewham settled in the 1820s and was named after Hexham, England, a small market town that was near another Newcastle. Many of the coal miners raised in Newcastle upon Tyne moved to New South Wales, Australia, at the time of settlement, tying these two communities together.

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Monuments Statues

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Added By

nbj914

Published

July 20, 2011

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Sources
  • Wikipedia: Australia's Big Things: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Australia%27s_big_things
  • Poidb.com: The Big Mosquito - Hexham NSW: http://www.poidb.com/poi/poi.asp?POIID=210260
  • Wikipedia: Hexham, New South Wales: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hexham,_New_South_Wales
  • Blueberries: Big ‘n’ Bizarre: The Big Mosquito: http://www.blueberries.net.au/blog/2011/03/22/big-n-bizarre-7/
Big Mosquito
Hexham Bowling Club
Old Maitland Road
Hexham, 2322
Australia
-32.83332, 151.68985
Get Directions

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