Mosquitoes are delicious food for fish and other aquatic and reptilian creatures, but their buzzing and itchy bites make them a great annoyance to people. They also can carry a variety of diseases, which makes them a serious problem if their population gets out of control.
Mosquitoes are insects. The female mosquitoes feed on blood from humans and animals by biting. Male mosquitoes prefer nectar from flowers as their food source and do not bite. In the world there are over 2,500 different species of mosquitoes; in the US there are 150 species, (73 that live in Florida). Fourteen species are confirmed carriers of West Nile Virus.
Over their life span, mosquitoes can bite up to 14 times in search of blood. The Latin generic name for a mosquito is Culex, another is Anopheles. The name mosquito dates back to the late 1500’s. A Culex mosquito bite is painful and they are persistent. They attack at dusk. Although not a strong flyer, it can travel up to two miles. They can only live for w few weeks, depending on temperature.
Culex and Anopheles mosquitoes are carriers of the St. Louis encephalitis, LaCrosse Encephalitis, Eastern and Western Equine encephalitis, West Nile Virus, Yellow Fever, Dog Heartworm and other borne/transmitted diseases. Anopheles are strong flyers and can travel as far as 50 mile, biting in the mornings and at night. They are the only known mosquito to transmit Malaria.
The Culex mosquito lays 200 or more eggs on water where they form into rafts. They can lay eggs every third night during their life span. The Anopheles mosquito lays individual eggs on damp soil that will be flooded with water, and are commonly found near salt water. Typically within 48 hours an egg will hatch into a Larva.
Culex larvae live in water and will come to the surface and breathe though a siphon. Anopheles larvae have no siphon. They breathe by laying parallel to the surface. Both types of larvae feed on organic matter from the water. In the larvae stage they shed their skin four times, each becoming larger. This takes place over a 7 to 14 day period. After the fourth shedding, they turn into a Pupa (cocoon).
After 1-4 days, depending on species and temperature, the skin splits and out emerges a fully developed adult mosquito. The new adult will rest for a short time to allow their bodies time to harden. And then they go looking for a food source. The egg stage to adulthood process takes 10-20 days.
Both male and female mosquitoes need water for hydration and survival. The female needs water to deposit her eggs. There are a number of products that take surface tension away and we recommend Mosquito Free Water. Water tension allows mosquitoes to land and breed on the water surface. Without water tension, mosquitoes (at all stages) will sink and drown.
People contract mosquito-borne diseases every year. It is important that we all take available measures to control breeding of mosquitoes. Please refer to our article Preventing Mosquitoes in Your Garden for more information.
Written by:
Matt Lepow, Owner, CCNPro, B.S. Ornamental Horticulture |
