What is the life cycle of the mosquito?
The complete life-cycle of a mosquito takes about a month. After drinking blood, adult females lay 40 to 400 tiny white eggs in standing water or very slow-moving water. Within a week, the eggs hatch into larvae (sometimes called wrigglers) that breathe air through tubes which they poke above the surface of the water. Larvae eat bits of floating organic matter and each other. Larvae molt four times as they grow; after the fourth molt, they are pupae (sometimes called tumblers). Pupae also live near the surface of the water, breathing through a horn-like tube on their back. Pupae do not eat. An adult emerges from a pupa when the skin splits after a few days. The adult lives for only a few weeks.
