Mosquitoes are blood-sucking insects from the Diptera family, belonging to the long-wattled ectoparasite group. Every person is familiar with these insects, because they live in any area, on every continent.
For many centuries, people have been actively fighting blood-sucking insects with the help of various folk remedies, electronic devices and insecticidal preparations.
For the most effective fight against annoying "bloodsuckers" it is necessary to know exactly how mosquitoes reproduce and what factors influence the duration of their life cycle.
How mosquitoes breed
Young offspring appear in early spring - in late April, early May. They gather in the vicinity of those places where the larvae lived. Females and males lead a carefree life, feeding on the nectar of flowers. After a while, they begin to gather in flocks. Insects mate for several days, scatter in different directions. After that, the diet of mosquitoes, depending on the sex, undergoes changes. Males continue their life in the grass, foliage of young trees, females go in search of food.
For the formation of eggs, female mosquitoes need protein, lipids, all this is obtained by the insect from the blood of animals, humans, and less often birds. After full saturation, the mosquito flies to a calm place, digests food, during which time eggs are formed. Then he looks for a pond with stagnant water or damp earth, makes a masonry.
Insects reproduce very quickly. At a time, a female mosquito reproduces from 50 to 150 pieces. Scatter them one at a time. Mosquito eggs stay on the surface of the water, at temperatures above +15 degrees Celsius, larvae appear after 9 hours. If the temperature is below these indicators, the development is stretched in time up to 20 days.
On a note!
How many eggs a mosquito lays depends on the habitat, food, life expectancy. In an apartment, the life cycle of an insect is shorter than in nature. The female does not have the opportunity to lay a large number of eggs, since there is simply nowhere to go. Without blood, the insect can give life to new offspring, but the clutch will be no more than 50 pieces, the mosquitoes will appear small, weak, and the female in most cases dies.
Insect description
Mosquitoes are classified as gnats. The length of the blood-sucking insect reaches 4-15.5 mm, depending on the species. But in tropical countries, you can find mosquitoes, the body of which can reach 10-12 cm.
Distinctive features:
- elongated, narrow body;
- thin and long legs;
- wide chest;
- elongated abdomen, consisting of segments;
- narrow, transparent and long wings with scales.
The main feature of mosquitoes is the presence of a piercing-sucking mouth apparatus, which has significant differences in insects of different sexes. Females have a long proboscis with small and sharp bristles, while males have a lush mustache.
How mosquitoes appear, how life begins
The first generation of bloodsuckers emerges from the pupa in May. After mating, the female mosquito immediately begins laying eggs. They develop in water or moist soil. In urban conditions, this happens on sewer pipes, basement walls.
Mosquito life cycle
Mosquito development stages:
- egg;
- larva;
- chrysalis;
- imago.
Where do mosquitoes come from in the house in winter?
The fact of the presence of such annoying insects in the house in winter causes complete bewilderment. As a rule, in the cold season, blood hunters completely change their way of life. Males die almost immediately after fertilization, while females still continue to live. The laid eggs slow down their development process, but with the first warming, the larvae begin to appear. Mosquitoes in an apartment in November are extremely rare, since closer to winter they fall into a kind of hibernation.
Females of parasites will perfectly endure the cold, due to inhibition of metabolism. Mosquitoes spend the winter in dry grass or in a hollow tree, but modern conditions have forced them to adapt to the urban jungle. Blood-sucking insects can continue to live in the warm, flooded basement of the house, and accidentally enter the apartment through the ventilation hole. You can spot single individuals, but it is best to take safety measures. If you regularly see mosquitoes at home with the onset of cold weather, then you should take care of the presence of special repellents and traps.
It is best to first take care of eliminating the breeding site of the parasites. Utilities may take their time to drain the basement or look for a leak. In this case, purchase a fine mesh for the ventilation hole and additionally use a fumigator. If infestation is high, you can treat your basement with a powerful insecticide that kills the larvae to significantly reduce the mosquito population. The appearance of bloodsuckers in the winter is not the norm, so it is important to take appropriate measures and contact the utility service to fix leaks in the basement.
Cycle of life
The lifespan of a mosquito directly depends on the habitat into which it enters after birth. The main role is played by the temperature regime. At + 25 ° C, insects live for about 45 days, at + 20 ° C, the life of a mosquito increases to 60 days. A decrease in temperature below + 15 ° C slows down metabolic processes in the body of adults, larvae, extending their existence up to 119 days.
On a note!
How long an ordinary mosquito lives depends on gender. The average life span of a male is 14 days. Genetic ability - 20 days. Speaking of timing, most often they mean how long the female lives.
Mosquito breeding
In the wild, mosquitoes drink the blood of animals, reproduce healthy offspring, in large numbers. In a humid, moderately warm environment, a mosquito can live for almost 2 months. An increase in indicators from +25 degrees Celsius does not allow insects to rise into the air, since they instantly lose moisture. Whereas under favorable conditions, mosquitoes fly up to the 9th floor. A decrease from +10 degrees Celsius slows down metabolic processes, the insect falls into suspended animation, but continues to live.
Interesting Facts
Reproduction is impossible without saturation of females with human blood. Therefore, mosquitoes are settled in almost all areas of land where humans live. They keep close to settlements so that they can drink the blood of people at any time.
Each species has its own preferences in temperature and lighting mode. Some like shady ponds, others well-lit. Biologists have calculated that larvae are able to develop when the water temperature is 10–35 ° C, but the most comfortable is considered to be from 25 ° C to 30 ° C.
Mosquitoes rarely lay eggs in large bodies of water, in which many fish live, because they willingly feed on clutches.
The larva will die if the water is contaminated with oil products: they form a film on the surface through which the worms cannot breathe. But some species show an enviable adaptation, having adapted to use oxygen dissolved in water for breathing.
The process of how mosquitoes appear has been sufficiently studied by science. These insects are characterized by high fertility and feeding on human blood. Both of these traits are directly dependent on each other.
Where do mosquitoes live?
Natural habitat, life - forest, swamp, lake, any water bodies, peat bogs. In urban areas, insects are found in basements, entrances, near garbage cans, sewage pits, and grass. They often make their way into apartments, houses through cracks, open windows, doors.
Mosquito
Mosquitoes die at temperatures above 25 degrees Celsius from dehydration. At low rates, they fall into suspended animation. In what month they disappear, they stop flying - in June, when the temperature rises, in August. However, in wetlands, mosquitoes can live permanently, all summer. Will disappear completely in the fall. The mosquito season in the Moscow region begins in May and ends in September.
On a note!
The mosquito family appears almost simultaneously with the midges. The former are active in the evening, the latter during the day. The lifespan of a midge and a mosquito is somewhat different. The midge flies no more than 1 month. They begin to disappear in mid-June. During a drought, they may die earlier or not appear at all.
Reproduction and developmental stages of insects
Before you know how blood-sucking mosquitoes reproduce, there are certain facts you need to study. The oral apparatus of males does not give them the opportunity to penetrate under the skin and look for blood vessels. Their main food is the nectar of plants and flowers. They exist to mate with females and reproduce. Females require a protein that is present in the blood. This component is essential for the maturation of eggs. The number of eggs also depends on how much lymph the blood-sucking insect will consume.
The insect lays eggs 2-3 times a week. To do this, it flies up to a reservoir or container, and also drops the formed eggs. In order to preserve future offspring, the pest moves randomly and drops eggs. They get on algae, moss and other plants. After that, birth begins. It includes the following stages:
- The egg resembles a kind of bubble in which air is present. Therefore, it hangs in the water. The larva appears in a week.
- The larva is similar to a worm. She has small brushes in her mouth, which are used to search for food, as well as filter water. Small organic debris, algae and certain bacteria feed on worms. To get a certain portion of air, the larva rises to the surface. Pupae appear in 14–21 days.
- The pupa resembles a tadpole. She does not consume food. Within 2-4 days, until the wings and limbs appear, the pupa absorbs air.
How mosquitoes breed in a pond or in an apartment, how long it takes, depends on the conditions and the presence of natural enemies. If ideal conditions are created, then the number of squeaks increases rapidly.
Danger to humans
Mosquitoes drink blood to reproduce, to replenish energy reserves, to continue life. Humans are attracted to insects by the smell of lactic acid, carbon dioxide, sweat, and warmth. At the site of the bite, irritation, swelling and redness, itching appear, and sometimes a strong allergic reaction develops.
Mosquito types, photos and names
In nature, there are a great many different types of mosquitoes, we will describe the most interesting of them:
Common mosquito (squeak)
It is the most common member of the mosquito family. Inhabits a wide geographical range, these mosquitoes often bother us during forest picnics, walks near water bodies, or even just at home.
Mosquito centipede (caramora)
These mosquitoes live exclusively in places with high humidity: near water bodies, swamps, in shady thickets.They are large for mosquitoes - they reach 4-8 cm in length. And also these mosquitoes are safe for humans, as they feed exclusively on nectar and plant juices, but they can cause harm to farmland and forest plantations.
Anopheles mosquito
Chionei (winter mosquitoes)
These mosquitoes look like both large spiders and centipedes at the same time. However, they differ from those and from these in their way of life. They differ from other mosquitoes in their ability to tolerate cold and therefore winter mosquitoes can be found even in winter.
Also known as the mosquito bell. It is a harmless representative of the mosquito family, as it feeds exclusively on plant foods. It inhabits mainly along the shores of water bodies. It differs from other mosquitoes in its appearance - it has a yellowish-green color with long limbs.
The reasons
Where do mosquitoes come from? Their appearance in a house or apartment is not associated with the arrangement of everyday life and other factors. The specificity is that they always settle next to a person. The main way they spread is through migration. Insects breed near the food source. The appearance of mosquitoes in the city is due to the rainy and warm weather. They penetrate into apartments from the street, especially if the summer is rainy and warm.
In unfavorable periods (drought, severe cold), they wait out in shaded, most humid places. Mosquitoes often hide in houses and apartments:
- in curtains, on ceilings or walls - where there is little light;
- behind paintings, cupboards, under carpets;
- in window frames, narrow cracks.
What happens if all mosquitoes are destroyed
Of course, it happens that the most popular rhetorical question of the summer season is whether it will end? When you unsuccessfully try to fall asleep to the annoying squeak of insects.
The lowest link in the food chain
If flies were destroyed, to one single one, an ecological catastrophe would ensue. The situation with mosquitoes is not entirely straightforward.
What is the risk of the destruction of these insects
The diversity of this species of the insect family makes them different from each other. If you set a goal - to destroy these creatures, then the most sure thing is to destroy the blood-sucking ones. Because the rest are not our enemies.
But their disappearance is mistakenly considered uncritical.
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What happens if you kill all the mosquitoes? There will be more applicants for our blood among horseflies, midges, ticks, and various leeches.
Urbanization
The African and Asian populations will sharply increase, and they will begin to populate forests and wilderness, where mosquitoes did not allow humans. For this reason, the flora and fauna of these places will suffer, because settlers will begin to be destroyed.
Depletion of flora and fauna in all regions of the world
Who needs mosquitoes
Those fish, and the inhabitants of the waters, who ate only mosquito larvae, will change their diet and preferences. Frogs and mice will start eating butterflies and flies. Plants, pollinated by insects, and populations of birds that feed on them will disappear.
Pros of mosquito extinction
People will stop dying and suffering from mosquito-borne diseases. Scientists will switch to developing tools to combat other viruses. For example, the Ebola virus.
What methods do they get rid of
How to catch some of the mosquitoes to destroy?
Larvae of some insect families live in water bodies. This makes it easier to localize the enemy. But one caught and destroyed species will not solve the problem.
And you cannot kill all the larvae - this will lead to the death of other animals.
There is a method in which the larvae are infected with bacterial or fungal infections. Or the males are sterilized.
However, all these methods are half measures. If you could find a virus that kills only the larvae of blood-sucking species, it would be the perfect solution. But, such a weapon of selective action has not yet been invented.
Summer is not only a season of vacations and vacations, picnics and barbecue, but also, the annoying squeak of which interferes with good rest and sleep. No less suffering is also caused by the bites of annoying insects. They are often accompanied by severe itching. Moreover, it often happens that being in one company, not all of its participants suffer from the attack of bloodsuckers. Therefore, in order not to become a victim of insatiable bloodsuckers, it will not be superfluous to know what mosquitoes are flying at or what attracts their attention.
Mosquito hearing
First, like humans, a pair is required for offspring. Many people know that the male mosquito does not bite, this is the lot of females, which serves as a reason for numerous humorous analogies. But gender differences are not limited to this. Few people know that the inventor of the famous machine gun Hiram Maxim worked as an electrical engineer, and in his youth made an important discovery, which was at first ridiculed, and then still recognized. He noticed that male mustachioed mosquitoes flock to the sound of magnetostrictive vibrations of transformer plates, and even demonstrated this with the help of a tuning fork with a frequency of 60 Hz, attracting them. This vibration of the air acts on them like a love song. Thus, the acoustic impact on mosquito "men", you can redirect a significant part of them to false targets, which will cause a sharp decline in offspring. Females, by the way, are deaf.
Mosquito-attracting agents
Quite a few
- The water trap features an open water pan. After all, it is in the water that mosquito females usually lay eggs. Therefore, it is enough to periodically add and replace water, disposing of caught insects.
- they destroy mosquitoes with an ultraviolet lamp, to the light and heat of which they flock. It is equipped with a built-in grid, which is supplied with voltage. As soon as the insect touches it, it dies from the discharge of an electric current.
- The propane trap is for outdoor use only. It works by releasing CO2 and special baits that mimic the smell of human sweat. One of these devices is.
Many craftsmen make using plastic bottles or paper soaked in a mixture of rosin, linseed oil and honey. Safety and accessibility are the main advantages of such devices.
With the onset of warm summer days, we try to spend more time in the fresh air, going on picnics in the forest, on a personal plot or a summer cottage. I like everything about this vacation: the beauty of nature, swimming in ponds, the process of picking berries and mushrooms, but the only fact that can darken this idyll is annoying squeaking and mosquito bites. The activity of unpleasant bloodsuckers and the ability to find a victim is sometimes surprising!
