7 Shocking Mosquito Facts You Wish You Knew Sooner

To date, scientists have found a record of 3,500 mosquito species. That’s a lot, for sure. But maybe you’ll be relieved to learn that just less than 200 of them can be found in the United States.

Not much relief, but at least it’s still a good thing not to have all the species of these pesky insects in one place.

Among all these species, though, it’s only the female members that will knock on your door, or rather the skin, seeking blood. Interesting, right?

Knowing just how many mosquito species we have around, or which one of them bites, might not mean much to you – what’s the use if you will never be able to tell them apart? These are mosquito facts you can well throw out of your mind and be done with it.

The following facts about mosquitoes are worth giving a thought or two about. Read on.

1. Insecticides Have a Short-Term Effect on Mosquitoes

And that’s why insecticides have to be applied on a continuous basis.

Sure, upon application, a good deal of mosquitoes is literally poisoned and dies as a result. But any larvae and eggs around that area remain intact. So, as soon as the said insecticide wears off, everything goes back to normal with the bloodsuckers buzzing around. They soon mature, lay eggs, and the cycle continues.

To at least stay abreast with keeping mosquitoes away, consider incorporating other mosquito control measures specifically targeted at destroying breeding sites or, better still, controlling their births.

2. They Can Smell Your Breath

Thought mosquitoes attack you even in the dark because they have sharp eyesight? You might just need to reconsider your position because it is outright wrong.

On the contrary, a mosquito’s eyesight isn’t exactly something to write home about. So, it’s not dependable when mosquitoes decide to venture out for that midnight blood snack.

Instead, they rely on the air you breathe out to locate you.

Here’s how that happens:

The air you exhale is laden with a healthy amount of carbon dioxide. The mosquitoes have a special structure, the maxillary palp, which they use to detect the CO2 in the air around them. So, all they have to do is follow the trail, and they’ll have their fill in no time.

3. Mosquitoes Feed All Day Long

Seriously? Such a tiny thing feeding for 24 hours a day? Not really!

As aforementioned, there are just many species of mosquitoes, and, as expected, they all have their own unique habits. And that includes the time frame within which they operate.

That means there are those that are active during the day while others come out to play at night – the activities are at their peak during summer.

So, if you are unlucky to have both of these two categories around you, you’re getting hammered most of the time.

When the sun is up, the Aedes species will be your constant bother and will hand over this position to Culex when dusk sets in. Throughout the night, Anopheles will be the one buzzing around you.

Now that’s some terror, isn’t it?

4. Mosquito – The Deadliest Animal on the Planet

How ironic for mosquitoes with their teeny selves to have such a title bestowed on them.

Well, if you consider the number of mosquito diseases, or rather the ones transmitted by mosquitoes, the title does really make sense. There are a gazillion of them – malaria, zika, chikungunya, West Nile virus, yellow fever, and dengue, just to name a few.

These diseases affect millions of people on a per-annum basis, and hundreds of millions of others are always at risk.

For instance, there are 500 million cases of malaria every year, a majority of which are in Africa, and at least 2.7 million people succumb annually to this disease.

And that is just for a single illness. Throw in the others, and you have disease havoc of unprecedented magnitude – all because of mosquitoes.

Lethal little things!

5. Bug Zappers Don’t Mean a Rat’s Piss to Mosquito Control

That’s right. Zappers have little effect on mosquitoes when you take into account the percentage that is killed this way in comparison to other insects. The same thing can be said about the effectiveness of bats.

The number of mosquitoes killed by the zappers is so small that it just makes no sense to employ their use in combating these insects, more so the female ones. Actually, less than 1% of all insects killed by zappers are mosquitoes.

If anything, the bug zappers are just bad news to the ecosystem since a majority of the insects that are killed have no harmful bearing on our lives in any way. But they get zapped because they love that ultraviolet light, so they head over to get some nice basking.

The targeted villains don’t even care about that pretty light, so they give it a pass.

6. A Bigger Person Is More Likely to Get Bitten By a Mosquito

This is all tied up to the primary way in which mosquitoes seek out their next meal – the carbon dioxide trail, as explained above.

And as it is, bigger people tend to give off more of it than regular folks, which makes them mosquito magnets. This is the sole reason why more adults than kids are getting bitten by mosquitoes.

Pregnant women are also a favorite for mosquitoes due to the enormous amounts of CO2 they produce.

7. Mosquitoes Are Heavy Breeders

Probably the saddest among mosquito facts. Because that means there will always be more than enough of them to keep advancing their dirty little game of sucking blood.

A female mosquito lays between 100 and 300 eggs at a time. Considering the fact it can do this up to three times before dying, it has the potential of bringing forth 3000 new offsprings on the higher side.

That’s a huge number, but then what’s the lifespan of a mosquito?

10 days for males and 2 months for females. Granted, some females that hibernate can make it up to the sixth month, these periods are extremely short. Hence, there have to be as many replacements as possible to keep up with the mosquito population.

Wrapping Up on Mosquito Facts

These are some serious mosquito facts to consider as you navigate your house or backyard. The sheer number of mosquito species might not interest you for a larger part. But the above are definitely worth your attention.

For your home pest control needs, call us today. We offer the best possible protection from pests and boast a long history of satisfied customers.