Why Are There So Many Mosquitoes?!

It’s summer and the mosquitoes are flying fast and furious. If you live in a mosquito free area, count yourself fortunate. The only place we have been where we really don’t see many mosquitoes is at the ocean. They don’t like salt water. Otherwise, wherever you go around here the mosquitos are active. But where do they all come from?

Mosquitos are in the group of insects with flies and gnats. They spend the first part of their life under water, and then fly in the air as adults. Interestingly, the female is the only one that bites. She needs the protein in blood to make here eggs. The eggs are laid on the surface of a stagnant pool of fresh water. When they hatch they become “wigglers” in the water. They don’t have gills so they need to come up to the surface to breath. They have a tube on their tail which they use as a snorkel. When they have grown enough, they float to the surface and form a pupa, or resting stage. After a few days, they hatch out as adult mosquitos. The males do not have the long straw like mouth parts to drink blood. They mostly feed on nectar from flowers.

A female mosquitos wings beat super-fast, sometimes 1000 times a second. That what make the buzzing sound if they get close to your ear. They are drawn to the carbon dioxide that we breath out. They can smell it 100 feet away! There are over 3500 kinds of mosquitoes in the world. Only Antarctica is mosquito free.

Some mosquitoes can carry dangerous diseases. That why it’s important to try and avoid them if you can. Here are some hints.

·       Wear an approved mosquito repellant. There are kid safe types if you do not like DEET.

·       Where loose fitting, light colored clothing. Long pants are recommended.

·       Limit time outside at dawn and dusk – the most active time for mosquitoes.

·       Dump out all standing water or get “mosquito dunks” so they cannot breed.

·       Make sure your doors and windows have tight fitting screens without holes.

·       You could get an electric mosquito zapper for your outside patio. It’s fun to listen to them get zapped. Hey, at least they are not biting you!

·       Some people put up bat houses. Bats eat thousands of mosquitoes every night!

·       If you do get bitten and it starts to itch, try not to scratch it. It might get infected. They make anti-itch cream that your parents can put on the bite to make it feel better.

 

Here’s a fun video about mosquitoes.

Well I hope you have a fun mosquito-free summer!

Until next time,

Love Papaw.