Life Cycle of a Mosquito
Mosquitos undergo complete metamorphosis in their life cycle, which involves four distinct stages of development and takes about a month to complete. To complete their life cycle they need standing/stagnant water. It is only the female mosquito that "bites". This is bacause the female needs a meal of blood in order to develop her eggs prior to laying them. Male mosquitoes feed on plant nectar only.
Stage 1:- Egg Eggs are laid one at a time and are often organised in rafts on the surface of still or very slow moving water, although some mosquito species prefer to leave their eggs floating on their own. Each meal of blood can allow hundreds of eggs to be laid to make up the raft.
Stage 2:- Larva Within a day or two of being laid the eggs hatch out into larvae, sometimes known as wigglers because of the way they move. They breathe through a breathing tube which they poke out through the surface of the water. Mosquito larvae feed on organic matter floating around in the water. They also feed on each other and so are not only carnivorous but are cannibalistic. The larvae molt four times during their short life and each molt is known as an "Instar". Following the fourth instar the larvae become pupae.
Stage 3:- Pupa The larvae change to pupae within 7 to 10 days of being laid. The pupae also live at the surface of the water, breathing through two horn-like tubes on their backs called siphons, sometimes referred to as "trumpets". Mosquito pupae do not eat and are sometimes called tumblers owing to the way they move, although they spend most of their time resting.
Stage 4:- Adult After about two days days the skin of the pupa splits open and the adult mosquito emerges, climbing out of the water and standing on the surface for a while to dry out its wings. Fast flowing water would wash the standing mosquitoes away to their deaths so it is important that the mosquito eggs were originally laid in still/stagnant water. After a few more days the female starts to look for an animal from which to get its first meal of blood. It only lives for four to eight weeks so it is important that it feeds and develops its eggs in plenty of time in order to maintain the species into the future.
Mosquito Facts
There are over 2500 different species of mosquitoes around the world!
Some species of mosquito have evolved means of developing their eggs without having to take a meal of blood.
Most mosquitoes stay within a mile or two of their point of origin.
Most male mosquitoes live for about a week while females live for about a month, however this depends on many factors including temperature, humidity and time of year.
A female mosquito may lay a raft of eggs every third night during its life span. This means that hundreds or even thousands of eggs may be laid during the lifetime of a single female.
A typical egg raft looks like a blob of soot floating on the surface and would be about 6mm by 3mm in size.
Mosquito pupae are lighter than water so floats at the surface unless disturbed, at which point it will dive to relative safety in a jerky, tumbling motion before floating back to the surface.
Both male and female mosquitoes drink nectar and assist in the pollination of flowering plants as they gather their food.
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