One thing we can all agree on here. Nobody likes mosquitoes. But our hatred for these pesky insects is also intertwined with an ironic interest to know more about them. Here are some mosquito facts you may not know and a few facts that may help you from becoming of victim of their love bites.
1. Females Mosquitoes Can Live Twice as Long
Just like humans, the female is known to outlive the male but by a much larger difference. Given the right environment, an adult female can live over a month while males normally do not make it past two weeks.
2. Only Female Mosquitoes Bite
In reality, they don’t bite, but suck. After finding her target she inserts the elongated, razor-sharp proboscis (their mouth equivalent) through the skin looking for a blood meal which will nourish her future eggs. If left undisturbed, the female will feed until her abdomen is completely full.
3. A Popularity Contest?
To mate, the males form large swarms at dusk and the females enter to take their pick. And for mosquitoes, it’s not the size that counts. Studies show that medium-sized males attract the most females because of their ability to stay up (in the air) longer.
4. Finding a Perfect Harmony
The buzzing you hear from mosquitoes is the result of the rapid beating of their wings. It is now known that the male and female mosquito will synchronize its flapping upon finding the perfect partner.
5. Mosquitoes Don’t Like Fans
You can use creams, sprays, candles, and more, but a great mosquito repellent that doesn’t leave you smelling like…well, mosquito repellent…is a fan. Because of their incredibly light weight, it is difficult for mosquitoes to maneuver their flight and even more difficult to steady themselves on a target.
6. “Mosquito” is a Spanish Word Meaning “Little Fly”
A little Spanish lesson: mosca is Spanish for fly. In Spanish, the diminutive form of a main word is used to describe something smaller yet similar. This is achieved by adding –ito to the end of the word. Therefore, the result is mosquito.
7. Bill Gates Hates Mosquitoes Too
The Anopheles mosquito species is the overwhelming human malaria carrier. 90% of malaria cases occur in sub-Saharan Africa. In February 2009, philanthropist Bill Gates released a jar of mosquitoes at a technology conference in California in order to get his point across concerning funding for further malaria vaccine development.
8. Mosquitoes Like Your Breathing and Sweaty
Were you ever told that mosquitoes were biting you in particular because you were just so sweet? Not really…what attracts mosquitoes most is the carbon dioxide exhaled from our mouths and certain aromas that each individual’s body creates. Completely opposite from sweet, it is said that mosquitoes fly more towards sweaty surfaces.
9. Mosquitoes Stay Close to Home
A mosquito can develop from egg to adult in as little as 4 days, but it hardly ever wanders far from the “nest.” Since it only travels between 1 and 1.5 miles per hour, it rarely goes beyond a 1 mile radius from its birth place during its short life cycle.
10. There are a lot of Mosquito Species
There are around 3,000 mosquito species in the world. Between 150 and 200 of those can be found in North America. West Virginia reports the fewest species (26) while Texas claims the most (85). Every July the small town of Clute Texas hosts The Great Texas Mosquito Festival complete with a Mosquito Chase Race and Mosquito Calling Contest.
Written by Allison Burgess
7 Comments
At what stage of mosquito pregnancy do females seek blood? Before they become pregnant? After they become pregnant? Constantly whether they are pregnant or not? Is the male mosquito’s attraction to the female affected at all by the level of blood the female has accumulated? Is the decision to find a mate made exclusively by the females? By the males? Made mutually? Can anyone suggest a book that answers these questions and possibly more?
Mosquitoes are attracted to women more than to man because of the estrogen. But, when most women get pregnant and the level of estrogen goes higher (too high), the mosquitoes are not attracted to these women any more. Women that have normally low estrogen level may get bitten more by mosquitoes when they are pregnant because they have now in their blood the level of estrogen that attracts mosquitoes.
That’s not true. Mosquitos actually like pregnant females more because they breathe out more carbon dioxide to accomadate for the growth inside.
Mosquitoes are attracted to the exact level of attractant. Biting female are attracted to carbon dioxide, however, if there will be too much of it they will be repelled by it.
When a mosquito female is searching a victim to bite, they are also attracted to a certain level of estrogen. This was scientifically proven. But again, they are attracted more to an exact concentration of it.
I think it might have been worth mentioning, as it probably surprises many people, that the majority of mosquito species do not bite humans and many do not drink blood at all, whether male or female! I for one do like even the biters, though. I find all animals, and especially insects, just plain cool and fascinating. They're not "bad" just because they need my blood, it's just nature. We kill and eat things ourselves 🙂
I will send mine to you !
TO GET RID OF MOSQUITOES:
1. Put up several of the sticky “Fly cathcher tapes” around all outdoor lighting NOW, while they are just beginning. No males= no mosquitoes
2. When you’re outdoors. put a fan close by, when you can. Keeps the survivors away.
I read that Mosquitos leave areas that Dragonflys are in. So you can repel Mosquitos by playing the sound of the wing beats that a Dragonfly makes. Or mimic them with sound waves in the 50 – 60 Hz range.