Mosquito Fact

Welcome to mosquito season, folks! Let’s learn a bit more about our bloodsucking friends, shall we?

Summer time is one of my favorite seasons, the longer days, the warm weather, and not to mention the start of festival season.

Unfortunately, there is one insect which just loves to ruin my days spent enjoying the amazing seasons Mosquitoes!

If you’ve read some of my other blogs you will know that these biting insects have become the bane of existence. 

However, after crawling the World Wide Web and speaking to our expert entomologists for some tips on how to prevent mosquitoes, I came across some rather interesting facts. Surprisingly, as well as the aggravatingly itchy bites these blood suckers cause, they are actually quite a spectacular group of insects.

So, here are 10 interesting facts about mosquitoes you need to know!

1. Only Female Mosquitoes Bite

I was a bit surprised about this, as I thought all mosquitoes bite, but no it is only the females that like to use us as a tasty midnight feast.

Why do Mosquitoes Bite?

Female mosquitoes bite to feed on your blood. The protein and other compounds provide mosquitoes with a tasty feast that is essential to help them produce and develop their eggs.

2. Mosquitoes are the World’s deadliest animals.

When someone mentions the term ‘world’s deadliest animal’ you probably start thinking of sharks, tigers, crocodiles and other fierce creatures.

Well, it may shock you to learn that it’s actually mosquitoes. Why? Well, it’s down to the harmful diseases that they are known to spread.

Mosquitoes Diseases

Mosquitoes are responsible for spreading several harmful diseases such as Malaria, Zika and Dengue to name few. It is believed that as a result of this, mosquitoes are responsible for around 1 million deaths per year!

                

3. Mosquitoes would be terrible in the Olympics

Now I’m not talking about last year’s summer Olympics with the treat of Zika, I’m talking about if mosquitoes entered the Olympics with all the other insects.

In comparison to other insects such as flies and wasps, mosquitoes aren’t the strongest of fliers and quite slow. It is estimated that these biting insects can only fly at speeds between 1 and 1.5 mph so you can’t expect them to be breaking Usain Bolt’s 100m world record anytime soon!

4. Mosquitoes are big fans of Dirty Dancing

Well, I don’t know if this is 100% accurate as I haven’t asked any mosquitoes what their favorite film is, but like Jennifer Grey and Patrick Swayze in the hit film from 80s mosquitoes have their own unique dance.

It has been discovered that before mating mosquitoes engaged in a short of dance which involves beating their wings in a cell-and-response type of manner. Amazing right?!

5. If you think mosquitoes bite you because you “taste sweet,” you might be right…

“This is one of the most popular folktales about mosquito bites. There is no strong evidence for glucose in blood parse, but the concept that some people are more attractive than others is 100% true.”

6. If a mosquito is desperate for blood, it will find a way through your clothes.

“Mosquitoes can puncture denim if they are sufficiently desperate, but will go for exposed skin,”

7. But there’s hope: You can become immune to mosquito bites…if you’re bitten enough.

A person, who works closely with mosquitoes, is now immune to their bites because she’s been bitten so often. “Immune tolerance develops within a few weeks,” they barely notice the bites anymore – even hundreds of bites per arm – No itchiness or redness.”

8. Mosquitoes love CO2

To be honest they have a bit of an addiction to it. Carbon dioxide is one of the main ways in which mosquitoes locate their next feast. They use a special organ called a maxillary palp to follow the smell of CO2 released from our breath.

9. There are a lot of Mosquitoes

And I mean a lot!

According to the American Mosquitoes Control Association, there are over 3,000 different species of mosquitoes throughout the world.

10. Mosquitoes are Greedy

We all know mosquitoes like to enjoy a couple of cocktails of human blood. But did you know they can drink more blood than student can drink alcohol during fresher’s week?

Studies have revealed that mosquitoes are able to drink 3 times their own body weight in blood. Now that’s a lot!

11. Mosquitoes don’t Live Long

Fortunately, you don’t have to worry about one mosquito becoming the bane of your existence causing itchy bites for eternity. Why? Well, these biting insects have a very short life span. It is estimated that mosquitoes live less than 2 months!

12. Mosquitoes are Really Old

Mosquitoes are as the Dinosaurs, with evidence of these biting insects dating back to the Triassic Period!

If you’ve seen the film Jurassic Park then this comes as no surprise as you’ll know that they used the blood found in fossilized mosquitoes to clone the infamous creatures to fill the park.

13. Mosquitoes don’t only Bite Humans.

So after reading fact 8, you might be a bit scared due to the number of mosquitoes there are. But don’t worry as not every mosquito has a craving for human blood. Some species prefer to consume their Friday night cocktails from other animals such as frogs and birds.