How to breed and how many mosquitoes live

Mosquitoes are spread all over the planet, with the exception of the coldest places: the Arctic Circle and Antarctica. There are about 3000 in total. species of these blood-sucking insects, among which about 100 live in Russia. Almost every person at least once became a victim of a bloodsucker, but not everyone knows how long the mosquito lives, and on what the duration of its life depends.

Mosquito lifespan

Mosquitoes prefer to dwell near bodies of water with stagnant water, in shady forests, lowlands, marshland. This choice of habitat for life is explained by the fact that the development of insect larvae occurs in water. One of the most common species is the common mosquito. It is he who bothers man more. Also often found green mosquito-bellbut people are of no interest to him.

The main period of insect life is in the summer. The life span of a mosquito depends on a number of conditions:

1. The ambient temperature has a great influence on the development and life of insects. The most optimal is the range from +10 to + 15 ° С. In such conditions, the female lives about 3-4 months. At a temperature of about +20 degrees, its life expectancy in the absence of other harmful factors will be 2 months. If the temperature regime exceeds 25 ° above zero, the female will live no more than 40 days. Male in similar modes lives 2 times less than female.
2. Where mosquitoes live, humidity plays an important role in creating favorable conditions for their development. Therefore, insects so often choose wet basements, cool utility rooms, and storerooms as their home. It is there that one must look for their clusters, trying to figure out where do mosquitoes come from.
3. The presence of food is an important aspect for the maintenance of insects. Mosquito menu depends on gender. Males feed on plant food - nectar and sap of plants. Females need a constant source of blood. They can be a man, an animal, an amphibian, and even a fish.
4. Natural enemies that eat mosquitoeshave a direct impact on the life cycle of insects. They are birds, other insects, insectivorous animals. The man also helps to reduce the life of bloodsuckers.

In ideal conditions, the female mosquito can live a whole year, having survived the winter time in a state of stupor. How much an ordinary mosquito lives in real conditions is easy to count. Usually the life of the female lasts no more than 40 days, and the males die after 20 days.

Mosquito

On a note!

One of the myths about mosquitoes is the limited lifetime of a female individual after its bite. The only factor that influences how long a mosquito lives after a human bite is man himself. If he noticed an insect on his skin in time and killed him, it would be the last bite in his life for this female.Otherwise, the female will continue to search for the victim for the next bite.

Hibernation

Mosquitoes die at temperatures below zero degrees. Those individuals that were able to survive before the onset of cold weather begin to seek shelter for hibernation. In nature, this place is fallen leaves, crevices in the hollows of trees. But mosquitoes often choose vegetable stores, outbuildings and even human houses in order to survive the winter period.

Interesting!

In the apartment they can hide between window frames, on the glazed balcony or loggia, in the vestibule in front of the entrance door, in the bathroom. Controversy what floor do mosquitoes fly toare maintained constantly. With the onset of heat, the female and the larvae, who wintered in the water, warm up and can again continue to exist.

Reproduction and developmental stages of insects

Male mosquitoes are not able to bite humans, their main role is to mate with a female. To maintain strength, they feed on the nectar of flowers. Within a few days, the males mate, on this their life cycle is exhausted and soon they will disappear. Insects breed in the warm season, but not in the hottest months.

Why do mosquitoes drink bloodThere is a simple explanation.After fertilization to female mosquitoes, biological fluid is necessary for the generation of offspring. If they fail to find a source of blood, the eggs of mosquitoes still ripen. During bloodsucking, the insect absorbs nutrient blood rich in protein. How many times does a mosquito bitedepends on the degree of saturation. The amount of absorbed blood directly affects how many eggs the individual lays. A female mosquito can bite up to 8 times a day. She herself determines how much blood she needs to get. After each digestion of blood, a certain number of eggs are formed in it.

Interesting!

If the females did not find a suitable prey, they live without blood and form fewer offspring. The life span of the mosquito is reduced, and almost immediately after reproduction, the female is forced to die.

Mosquito breeding

Every 2-3 days, the female mosquito lays eggs by shaking them into a pond or a usual puddle. At one time she is able to lay from 20 to 200 eggs. How mosquitoes are born can be observed independently. An insect flies randomly over the water surface to spread eggs throughout the reservoir.

Once in the water, eggs in the form of elongated sticks remain on the algae. The birth of a mosquito begins in stages:

1. The egg has a small bubble filled with air, which does not allow it to sink to the bottom of the reservoir. After 3-7 days a larva appears from it.
2. The larva looks like a small worm, which with the help of brushes in the mouth is able to filter up to a liter of water per day in search of food. Mosquito larvae may eat small pieces of algae, microorganisms, bacteria. For breathing, a young individual should place on the surface of the water the lower edge of its abdomen, where the simplified respiratory organ is located. The larva lasts 2-3 weeks, then it sheds and pupates.
3. A pupa is a cross between a worm and an adult. Curved in the form of a comma body looks like a tadpole. The pupa of a mosquito is not able to feed, it keeps on the surface of the water in order to breathe. After a few days, limbs and wings appear, and a formed mosquito takes off from the water surface.

On a note!

How mosquitoes reproduce and how many days their developmental stages take, depends on their species.In tropical countries, the entire cycle of insect transformations lasts no more than a week. In our country, the formation of the mosquito piskun takes 30-40 days.

Differences of midges and mosquitoes

Blackflies and mosquitoes

Midges, like mosquitoes, prefer to dwell near water bodies, where they lay eggs. But unlike mosquitoes, the midge is able to lay thousands of eggs in its short life of 1 month. Such fecundity makes the midges a worthy contender for the pushers.

For the formation of offspring, the midges need blood, which they receive as a result of biting through the skin and licking the blood secreted from the wound. Blackflies are not carriers of disease and do not lay eggs in humans under the skin, as some do types of flies. But the pain of bites and spoiled outdoor recreation made them enemies for people.

After reproduction, the midges tend to disappear, since their main goal of life is fulfilled. And the eggs laid in a river or stream independently form into an adult.

Mosquito season

Blood-squealing pyskuny breed all summer, but their greatest number falls on August.This month is a shorter light day, and before the sun goes down, mosquitoes appear. August in central Russia is characterized by cool evenings and high humidity. And these are the best conditions for midges and mosquitoes.

The mosquito season in the Moscow region usually begins in the second half of summer. During the day, insects live without food, hiding from the heat in forests and parks, and in the evening they go hunting and annoy with their bites and squeaking. Save from the mosquito invasion will help protective equipment. To say exactly in what month mosquitoes disappear is difficult. It depends on the weather. Usually in September their numbers noticeably decrease, and after the first frosts they disappear.