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Today on Animal Fact Files we’re discussing mosquitoes. Mosquitoes live anywhere with enough water to support their aquatic larvae. They’ve even invaded Antarctica, though they aren’t native there. Most mosquitoes utilize freshwater to raise their young, but some live in brackish and marine water. Mosquitoes almost exclusively use still water for their nurseries. Some may lay their eggs in slow moving streams, but stagnant, unmoving water is their preference. There are over 3,000 described mosquito species and more left to be discovered. In size, these insects range from two to ten millimeters in body length. That means the largest mosquitoes only measure about the length of your fingernail. Many people confuse crane flies for giant mosquitoes, or male mosquitoes, but, as we discussed in our crane fly episode, they aren’t mosquitoes and they aren’t dangerous. They can’t even pierce your skin!

Mosquitoes, on the other hand, can absolutely pierce your skin. They have needle-like mouthparts that are designed to give them access to blood. Though not all mosquitoes eat blood. Many female mosquitoes eat blood to nourish their developing eggs, but they also eat nectar. Male mosquitoes exclusively eat nectar and aren’t the culprits for mosquito stings. Not all female mosquitoes drink blood, either. Some use the proteins they collected as larvae to nourish their eggs. Like butterflies, adult mosquitoes have a proboscis for sucking up liquids, but their larvae eat algae and detritus. Some are predatory and eat other mosquito larvae, these are usually the ones who don’t need blood for egg development. So, if you think about it, some mosquitoes are pretty awesome because they help reduce the population of the bloodsucking mosquitoes!

Hosts to mosquitoes aren’t limited to people. These insects take blood from other mammals, reptiles, birds, and even fish. The female locates a host through odor, carbon dioxide emissions, and heat depending on the host. Her saliva causes blood to flow more easily so she can ingest her meal quickly, but it also causes irritation to the host. In some cases, a mosquito's saliva is a vector for diseases like malaria, yellow fever, and encephalitis. We talked more about how insects can be vectors for disease in our tick episode if you want to learn more about that.

Nearly all of us are familiar with the buzzing sound of a nearby female mosquito. While it might be annoying to us, to a male mosquito is the sound of romance. Male mosquitoes locate female mosquitoes by their unique buzz. The boys are much smaller than the ladies and produce a different pitch while they fly, so they can identify a female as she takes to the air. Interestingly, in lab studies, males had no interest in grounded females who weren’t making any noise. Like no-seee-ums, male mosquitoes can be told apart from females by their fuzzy antennae. These are sensitive to the sultry sounds of a female mosquito’s hum.

These insects begin their lives as eggs. A female lays 30 to over 300 eggs in stagnant water or in areas above the water line that are subject to flooding, including tree trunks! After about a week the eggs hatch into aquatic larvae, though some remain in their eggs for months during winter. The larvae then take a few days to nearly a month to develop into pupae, again with some living far longer as they overwinter. A mosquito pupa is comma shaped. They remain like this for a few days to weeks until they take in a big gulp of air and literally tear their body open for the adult mosquito to emerge and fly away. And mosquitoes are fantastic fliers! A female mosquito may travel nearly two miles (3.2km) to find a spot to lay her eggs! The whole cycle from egg to adult may occur multiple times in a single year.

Predators to mosquitoes include fish, dragonflies, frogs (including their tadpoles), turtles, spiders, and more! If they can avoid these threats, adult mosquitoes may live anywhere from a few days to nearly two months long!

For more facts on mosquitoes, check out the links below. Give a thumbs up if you learned something new today. Thank you to our Patrons SpikeSpiegel93, Dad, and everyone else for their support of this channel! And thank you for watching Animal Fact Files!