10 Fun Facts About Mosquitoes
Ahhh, summer… late nights spent at the ballpark, tasty meals grilled to perfection, and of course, endless time spent slapping at mosquitoes. These 10 fun facts about mosquitoes likely aren’t enough to sway your opinion of them, but at least they’ll make for a good conversation starter when you start slapping aggressively at your own body in front of people.
10 Fun Facts About Mosquitoes
Learning about them won’t make them any less annoying, but at least they’re interesting!
1. Males (and some females) don’t feed on blood.
We’ll start with the best news: not all mosquitoes are out to get you! While most adult female mosquitoes feed on blood to assist with egg production, adult male mosquitoes (and females of a few species) maintain a simple but delicious diet of plant nectar.
2. Mosquitoes have been around since the Jurassic period.
That makes them about 210 million years old. They've been mentioned throughout history, including in the works of Aristotle (around 300 BC) and in the writings of Sidonius Apollinaris (in 467 BC).
3. Females live longer than males.
In most species, female mosquitoes are larger than their male counterparts and also live longer.
4. Mosquitoes get busy in the air.
Studies show that mosquito reproduction generally occurs while the “couple” is airborne, with both sound and wingbeat frequencies being the main elements of attraction.
5. A mosquito can consume up to three times its weight in blood.
While that may be a lot of blood for the little pest, it would take about 1.2 million bites for them to drain all the blood from a human.
6. Mosquitoes can smell human breath.
Mosquitoes have receptors on their antennae that detect the carbon dioxide released when humans exhale. Those plumes of CO2 rise into the air, acting as trails that the mosquitoes follow to find the source.
7. Females lay up to 300 eggs at once.
Female mosquitoes lay clusters of eggs on stagnant water or in areas that flood regularly. The eggs can hatch in as little as a half inch of water.
8. Mosquitoes live less than two months.
Males generally die within 10 days, while females can survive for six to eight weeks in ideal conditions. Females of species that hibernate may live up to six months.
9. Bats don’t actually eat mosquitoes.
At least, not very many of them. Mosquitoes make up less than one percent of a bat's diet. And purple martins, a bird popularly believed to be a mosquito predator, also eat very few mosquitoes. They prefer dragonflies and other insects.
10. Mosquitoes are considered the deadliest “animal” in the world.
Thanks to the Anopheles mosquito, which transmits malaria, mosquitoes are infamously deadly. Malaria kills more than one million people every year, primarily in Africa.
While they may annoy you on long summer nights, mosquitoes shouldn’t inhibit your ability to be outside. If you’ve got an abundance of these pesky biters,
give us a call to discuss prevention and maintenance.
