Mosquitoes are the most prominent flying and blood sucking insects found around the world. They annoy man and other warm blooded animals with their bites and can transmit several serious diseases. There are about 2,800 species that vary in their breeding habits, biting behaviour, host preferences and flight range.

Mosquitoes belong to the family of flies called Culicidae and are small fragile insects. They can fly about 1 to 1.5 miles per hour. Mosquitoes have six delicate legs and two wings covered in scales.

They have a straw-like proboscis in their head that protects the long piercing and sucking

mouthparts. They can only drink liquids.

Hunting styles

When a female bites, it also injects an anticoagulant (anti-clotting chemical) into the prey to keep the victim’s blood flowing. The female finds its victims by sight and smell, and also by detecting their warmth. Upon locating a suitable victim, the female will probe the skin for a blood capillary then inject a small amount of saliva containing chemicals which prevent the victim’s blood from clotting. After engorging on the victim’s blood the female will find a resting place to digest her meal and develop eggs before flying off to deposit them in a suitable aquatic habitat.

Favourite food

Mosquitoes feed on nectar and plant fluids and decaying matter. Not all species bite humans. Only the female mosquitoes require a blood meal. The majority of species need this blood meal as a protein source for egg development. They suck the blood of mammals, including humans. The males only sip plant nectar.

Mosquito adults feed on flower nectar, juices, and decaying matter for flight energy.

Life cycle

Mosquitoes go through four distinct stages of development during a lifetime. The four stages are egg, pupa, larva, and adult. The full life-cycle of a mosquito takes about a month. After drinking blood, adult females lay a raft of 50 to 400 tiny white eggs in standing water or very slow-moving water. Within a week, the eggs hatch into larvae that breathe air through tubes which they poke above the surface of the water. Larvae eat bits of floating organic matter and each other. Larvae molt four times as they grow;

after the fourth molt, they are called “pupae”. Pupae also live near the surface of the water, breathing through two horn-like tubes on their back. Pupae don’t eat.

An adult mosquito emerges from a pupa when the skin splits after a couple of days.

The larvae are filter feeders of organic particulates. The larval and pupal stages can be found in a variety of aquatic habitats including: discarded containers, tires, temporary woodland pools, raincans, tree and crab holes, salt marshes, and irrigation ditches. The adult lives for a few weeks.

On average, a female mosquito will live 2-3 weeks, but the male’s lifespan is shorter. Mosquito bites can transmit many diseases like malaria, encephalitis, yellow fever, dengue fever, dog heartworm, West Nile virus, and many others. Mosquitoes carry disease from one animal to another as they feed. — Compiled by Merina Pradhan