The process of procreation is an important part of the life of any living creature, and insects are no exception. How do mosquitoes reproduce? Probably, few people have thought about this issue, and its subtleties are known only to biology buffs. Although this is quite an interesting process from the point of view of knowledge about the living world, which has its own characteristics and interesting facts.
Why do they bite us and how does this affect mosquito reproduction?
The fact is that human sweat contains lactic acid; bloodsuckers sense it at a great distance. For this reason, mosquitoes torment people most severely during the hot season. Being bitten, people, without knowing it, encourage the reproduction of mosquitoes and create very comfortable conditions for them. Thanks to the saturation of mosquito females with blood, a new population of viable and strong individuals appears.
Not everyone knows, but mosquitoes reproduce even if they do not bite people or animals. In this case, they have to expend the resources of their own body to form eggs. As a result, the offspring of mosquitoes are born weak, and after laying the insect itself dies. Until the time of laying comes, the female constantly returns to the victim and bites her, after each digestion of blood.
In order to get rid of mosquitoes, you need to start with the original cause of the nuisance: reproduction. Understanding how mating occurs and what individuals eat will help you choose the right place to travel. And avoid many problems. Mosquitoes are harmful to humans, and to effectively combat them, it is helpful to first learn how mosquitoes reproduce.
How to get rid of it?
Where do big mosquitoes come from? Despite their terrifying appearance, they are absolutely harmless to humans. These mosquitoes do not attack and live in forested areas and wetlands. If they fly into a living space, it is by accident. They are usually attracted to warmth and bright light. There are many ways to get rid of insects: chemicals, traditional methods, or calling specialists to your home. Natural remedies are considered one of the safest and most effective. For example, a sprig of elderberry and the smell of walnuts and pine nuts can drive mosquitoes out of your apartment forever.
Mosquito mating process
- The ideal place for mating is a stagnant body of water; the males accumulate near them and wait for the female.
- Females emit a thin squeak, thereby attracting males, who feel it with the help of their antennae; they make this characteristic sound with their wings.
- Individuals gather in a swarm in which only male mosquitoes move, they drag the female into it and mating occurs.
- The female who finds herself inside the swarm is fertilized by the male mosquito who first grabbed her.
The process lasts a very short time, at the end the mosquito returns to the other males. The internal genital organs are hidden in the body of the mosquito; in females these are the ovaries and ovipositor, in the form of a short tube, and in males these are the testes. Fertilization also occurs internally; during sexual intercourse, mosquito sperm enters the female, into her reproductive tract.
Hibernation
Mosquitoes die at temperatures below zero degrees. Those individuals that were able to survive until the onset of cold weather begin to look for shelter for hibernation. In nature, such a place is fallen leaves, cracks in tree hollows. But mosquitoes often choose vegetable stores, outbuildings, and even human homes in order to survive the winter.
Interesting!
In an apartment, they can hide between window frames, on a glassed-in balcony or loggia, in a vestibule in front of the front door, or in a bathroom. There is a constant debate about which floor mosquitoes reach. With the onset of warm weather, the female and larvae, which have spent the winter in the water, warm up and can continue to exist again.
What happens after the female is fertilized?
The female mosquito feeds on the blood of mammals very actively, as this is required by the process of development and formation of eggs. The male does not have special piercing bristles inside his proboscis, so he remains a vegetarian. With the oral apparatus of a male individual it is simply impossible to bite. In females, the oral apparatus is fully formed, they penetrate the skin and inject into it a special secretion that prevents blood clotting. After mating, females lay eggs on the surface of the water.
There are two ways in which females lay eggs:
- Separately, one egg at a time
- “Packs” of eggs glued together.
Their number is usually from 150 to 400. Female mosquitoes can lay about 1200 eggs during their entire life span. After the breeding process, the male mosquito dies. Females lay eggs every 2-3 days during the active period.
Description of the insect
Mosquitoes belong to the category of midges. The length of the blood-sucking insect reaches 4-15.5 mm, depending on the species. But in tropical countries you can find mosquitoes whose bodies can reach 10-12 cm.
Distinctive features:
- elongated, narrow body;
- thin and long legs;
- wide chest;
- elongated abdomen consisting of segments;
- narrow, transparent and long wings with scales.
The main feature of mosquitoes is the presence of a piercing-sucking mouthpart, which has significant differences between insects of different sexes. Females have a long proboscis with small and sharp bristles, while males have lush mustaches.
Stages of mosquito development
Egg
Mosquitoes prefer places with a lot of plant debris, such as muddy banks. For unhindered reproduction, it is important that there are no waves, otherwise the eggs will not hatch. A menacing number of mosquitoes appears at the beginning of summer, when high temperatures set in. After winter, the pupae, which have turned into mosquitoes, quickly begin the mating process. Massive laying of eggs occurs, 20-30 eggs at a time. The warmer the water, the faster the incubation period occurs. It takes at least 40 hours for the eggs to hatch.
Larva
After the eggs hatch, the busy part of the mosquito's life cycle begins. The mosquito larva develops sequentially, in a number of molts. The mosquito larva sheds its outer shell three times during development. Metamorphosis during mosquito development includes four stages. The larvae swim alone in the water and feed on energy very intensely. They have a mouthparts and active brushes inside them. If it is warm around and there are no fry that feed on the larvae, then future mosquitoes grow quickly. This is the most important stage in development. The larvae hang at the very surface of the water in a calm state. Their diet includes a variety of microscopic organisms, unicellular algae, and parts of rotting plants.
Doll
After the larvae reach their maximum size, pupation occurs inside the shell. During this stage of development, mosquitoes do not feed, they develop thanks to the energy reserve that they gained while still being a larva, and the pupae breathe thanks to the tubes that come out. A movable abdomen with a tail extending from the cephalothorax allows it to swim away from danger. The pupa is similar in appearance to a small tadpole; only the abdomen remains free from the shell; the front part of the body is covered with a common shell. The curve of the body is shaped like a comma. The pupa in the water exposes the front end of its body, and not the rear, unlike the larva, and is suspended on the surface. The color of a newborn mosquito is almost black. Pupae that have already matured burst above the water, and adult individuals are born from them. Until the wings dry out and straighten out, the mosquito does not fly into the air, but clings to the pupal shell it has abandoned.
Adult
The last stage in the mosquito's life cycle is the transformation from pupa to adult. They are called imago. The only goal of a sexually mature and fully formed individual is the reproduction of offspring. It is impossible to say exactly how long the life cycle of a mosquito lasts, since this is influenced by the diversity of species, different conditions in which individuals live, it is important how filled the environment is with food for the larvae, the speed of transformation into a pupa depends on this.
Preventive measures
The main ways to repel mosquitoes:
- Plants (geranium, tomato, citrus);
- Essential oils (cedar, eucalyptus, clove);
- Basement disinfection;
- Ventilation, regular cleaning.
First of all, pay attention to all possible loopholes for parasites in your windows and on the balcony. A durable mosquito net will solve this problem. Since this is not the only way pests can enter your home, it is recommended to purchase some types of flowers that can repel mosquitoes. Geranium and regular tomato will be an effective repellent for insects that do not tolerate their pungent odor.
Citrus fruits also have an unpleasant odor for bloodsuckers. The effect of lemon can be complemented with cloves. You can also use eucalyptus or clove essential oil. When aromatherapy, you should keep in mind that the aroma used should not cause you any unpleasant sensations. General cleaning in the house, in the basement, in the attic, in the barn, using special disinfectants will provide you with a quiet life without annoying insects. With the correct implementation of preventive measures, you can forget about domestic bloodsuckers, and not rack your brains over where mosquitoes come from in the apartment in the fall, or even in winter.
Interesting facts about mosquitoes
When a female chooses a victim, she focuses not only on the smell of lactic acid, but also on carbon dioxide exhaled by a person or any other mammal. Also, the female mosquito reacts to light, preferring dark rooms, which is why they are mainly nocturnal. Males live less time than females, on average 19 days.
Knowing the peculiarities of development and how mosquitoes reproduce, you can begin to take measures to destroy them. The total destruction of mosquitoes is called disinfestation. You can fight insects in both closed and open spaces. It is necessary to cut off oxygen to the larvae. An effective eradication process will include eliminating mosquito populations both outdoors and indoors. It is necessary to eliminate dampness in the premises. Most often, juveniles develop in basements.
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Average lifespan
How long a mosquito lives in nature depends on many factors. The main role is played by the quality of food, gender, and ambient temperature.
- Studies show that females live 10-20% longer than males. This is due to a greater reproductive role.
- Food quality. If the female receives enough blood, she lives longer. Without nourishment, the female dies immediately after laying a clutch, since reproduction becomes fatal for her body and depletes internal resources.
- Ambient temperature plays perhaps a key role. The degree of influence and preferred values depend on the specific species. If we talk about the indigenous inhabitants of the middle zone, such as the common mosquito, insects feel best in a moderately warm climate. The optimal air temperature is 10-15 degrees Celsius. In such conditions, females live about 110-115 days. Males are somewhat smaller. From 80 to 100 days. As temperatures rise, life expectancy decreases.
In the best case, life expectancy is about a year. This raises the question of life in the cold season. How mosquitoes spend the winter in nature is determined by their habitat. As a rule, in order to survive difficult weather conditions, they hide in holes or burrow into rotten leaves. After which, with the first warming, they become active again.
Also in the section: Life cycle of a mosquito
Danger
Where do mosquitoes come from? They enter a house or apartment through open doors, windows, cracks and cracks. If a female mosquito laid larvae in the warm season, this question disappears by itself. Mosquitoes are not at all harmless insects. In addition to the fact that they make unpleasant annoying sounds, bite and prevent you from falling asleep at night, mosquitoes often become carriers of dangerous diseases, infections and allergic reactions.
These insects attack several people at once. Therefore, they can easily transfer an infection from an infected person to a healthy person. They are the cause of malaria, tularemia, yellow fever, and lymphatic filariasis. In addition, a mosquito bite itches. Sometimes such trauma to the skin leads to the appearance of scars.
