The life span of a mosquito goes through the following stages: egg, larva, pupa, imago. It is known that only females bite a person and drink blood. This happens just after mating. Blood is digested and at the same time the process of egg maturation is going on. When the time is right, the female begins to lay eggs. Even a shallow puddle, a groove or hole filled with water can serve as a place for this. Mosquitoes find a place, focusing on humidity. Egg-laying occurs in the following ways:
1. Each egg separately, one at a time.
2. "In batches" - the eggs are glued together.
At one time, the female lays about one hundred twenty to one hundred and fifty eggs. The life span of a mosquito at this stage depends on the temperature of the water. The security of the chosen place also plays a significant role. In general, the average duration of egg development is from forty hours to eight days. At the end of this stage, fairly mobile larvae appear, the body of which consists of a head, chest, abdomen, and the size is about two millimeters. The food for the larvae is organisms living in water, plants, and more. It is very easy to detect larvae with the naked eye. They usually hang on the surface of the water.
Over the life of a mosquito (in the larval stage), it molts four times, and after the last molt turns into a chrysalis. The body resembles a comma and consists of a more massive cephalothorax and a bent tapering abdomen. The pupa can be under water for a long time in a state of movement and is more protected from external influences. At the end of this stage, she changes color to almost black.
The life span of a mosquito at this stage is regulated by very complex processes, as a result of which an adult appears, ready to fly a mosquito imago. The protective shell on the back of the pupa breaks, and through the gap formed, first the head is released, then the chest and finally the limbs and wings. A few minutes after the "birth" the mosquito flies to the greenery growing near the reservoir. Males always appear before females. They gather at the place of hatching in swarms, as if waiting for their future "brides" to continue the cycle of the birth of new individuals. The instinct of bloodsucking wakes up in fertilized females. When she is hungry, she can smell the smell of people and animals at a distance of up to three kilometers. A
mosquito can suck blood more than its own weight in one
bite . The life span of a female mosquito is two to three weeks, and sometimes of the order of 120 days (under favorable conditions). Males live much less.
During the warm season, three or four generations of mosquitoes have time to grow, and in the southern latitudes - twice as much.
Recently, scientists have come to the conclusion that poor environmental conditions and environmental degradation did not affect how and how many mosquitoes live, their ability to breed. On the contrary, these insects perfectly adapted and changed their key signs of life. For example, a mosquito can live and breed well in dirty water.