What are mosquitos?
Mosquitos are insects, thus related to lice, fleas, and flies. Mosquitos have six legs, a pair of wings, compound eyes, large antennae, and that problematic proboscis with which the females suck blood. (Male mosquitos eat nectar.) To make them even more pesky, it is no help that some female mosquitos can hibernate during the winter and lay their eggs in spring. They generally travel for about 2 miles from their breeding grounds, or even further if blown by the wind. What is the life cycle of the mosquito? All mosquitos need water as a place where they can lay their eggs one at a time, or in “rafts” of up to 200 eggs, depending upon the species. The eggs hatch into larvae about 2 days after being laid. The larvae (also called ‘wigglers’) live in the water for 7-10 days while maturing into the pupal (also called ‘tumbler’) stage. In 2-3 days, these pupae have developed into adults and fly away and mate. (If you are wondering how a male and female mosquito find each other, the female’s bu
