Fun Facts About Mosquito

Fun Facts About Mosquito

1. Although mosquitoes carry and transmit diseases, they are a fascinating insect.

2. More than 3000 species of mosquitoes have been described on a world-wide basis. Scientists group species by genus on the basis of the physical characteristics they share. The 3000 mosquito species found in the world are divided among 28 different genera. The genus Aedes contains some of the worst pests. Many members of the genus Anopheles have the ability to transmit human malaria. 

3. Mosquitoes belong to a group of insects that requires blood to develop fertile eggs. Males do not lay eggs, thus, male mosquitoes do not bite. The females are the egg producers and "host-seek" for a blood meal. Female mosquitoes lay multiple batches of eggs and require a blood meal for every batch they lay.

4. Few people realize that mosquitoes rely on sugar as their main source of energy. Both male and female mosquitoes feed on plant nectar, fruit juices and liquids that ooze from plants. The sugar is burned as fuel for flight and is replenished on a daily basis. Blood is reserved for egg production and is imbibed less frequently.

5. Mosquitoes, like all insects, are cold blooded creatures. As a result, they are incapable of regulating body heat and their temperature is essentially the same as their surroundings. In tropical areas, mosquitoes are active year round. 

6. In temperate climates, adult mosquitoes become inactive with the onset of cool weather and enter hibernation to live through the winter. Some kinds of mosquitoes have winter hardy eggs and hibernate as embryos in eggs laid by the last generation of females in late summer. The eggs are usually submerged under ice and hatch in spring when water temperatures rise. 

7. Mosquitoes have been around for 100 million years. 

8. All mosquitoes do not feed on blood.  Only the female mosquito requires a blood meal for development of her eggs. 

9. One female mosquito may lay 100 to 300 eggs at one time and may average 1,000 to 3,000 offspring during her lifespan. 

10. Depending on the temperature, mosquitoes can develop from eggs to adults in four to seven days. 

11. An adult mosquito can live as long as 5 months. It may take several months for a larva to develop to the adult stage in cold water. Eggs of floodwater mosquitoes may remain dormant for several years, and hatch when they are covered with water. 

12. An adult female mosquito weighs only about 1/15,000 ounce (about 2.0 milligrams). 

13. An adult female mosquito consumes about 5-millionths of a liter in a single blood meal. 

14. A mosquito wing beats from 300 to 600 times per second. 

15. Male mosquitoes find female mosquitoes by listening to the sound of their wings beating. The males can actually identify the correct species by the pitch of the female’s wings.

16. Mosquitoes can fly about 1 to 1.5 miles per hour.

17. Most mosquitoes do not fly very far from their larval habitat, but the salt marsh mosquito migrates 75 to 100 miles over the course of its life.

18. A mosquito can smell the carbon dioxide you exhale from about 60 to 75 feet away.

19. Some people are more attractive to mosquitoes than others. It is not clear why, but probably has something to do with the 300 odd chemicals produced by the skin.

20. In the interest of science, Arctic researchers uncovered their chests, arms, and legs and reported as many as 9000 mosquito bites per person, per minute. At this rate, and unprotected human would lose one half of his blood supply in approximately 2 hours.

21. Mosquitoes dislike citronella because it irritates their feet.

22. The itch from a mosquito bite can be soothed by cutting open a clove of garlic and rubbing it on the bite.

23. Mosquitoes are attracted to the color blue more than any other color.

24. A mosquito can detect a moving target at 18 ft away.

25. Mosquitoes find new hosts by sight (they observe movement); by detecting infra-red radiation emitted by warm bodies; and by chemical signals (mosquitoes are attracted to carbon dioxide and lactic acid, among other chemicals).

26. HIV virus responsible for the AIDS infection is regarded as food to the mosquito and is digested along with the blood meal.

27. The average mosquito has 47 teeth.

28. They can’t survive at temperatures of 50 degrees and below.

29. Every 30 seconds, a child dies from malaria.

30. There are 4 types of malaria.
One of them, falciparum malaria, can cause severe malaria.

31. Some fish, such as mosquito fish, carps, and Tilapia, eat mosquito larvae. Dragonflies, and perhaps also birds, bats, and lizards also kill larvae. Larvae can also be killed by surface films or by some chemicals such as methoprene that are toxic to mosquitoes.

32. Dengue is a mosquito-borne infection that causes a severe flu-like illness, and sometimes a potentially lethal complication called dengue haemorrhagic fever (DHF).

33. A French army doctor in Algeria,Charles Louis Alphonse Laveran, observed parasites inside red blood cells of malaria patients and proposed for the first time that a protozoan caused disease. He was awarded Nobel Prize for Physiology or Medicine in 1907. 

34. Asian Tiger Mosquitoes are considered great pests and dangerous vectors of human diseases. Some of these diseases include: West Nile Virus- Causes irritation and inflammation of the brain  Chikungunya fever- extremely high fever's.

35. Asian tiger mosquitoes wing beats 300 to 600 times per second.

Asian Tiger Mosquito

36. Global warming will likely increase the spread of this mosquito to areas where it previously may not have survived the winters.

37. The Asian Tiger mosquito’s name comes from its black-and-white striped appearance. Some Asian tiger mosquitoes have even been found in the high altitudes of some mountains! Due to its ability to adapt quickly. 

38. In order to try to kill off the Asian tiger mosquito scientist found a cannibalistic Asian tiger mosquito and tried to breed it to see if the offspring mosquito will be a cannibal so far we do not know if it was successful.