Wet spring weather means mosquitoes. In this area, there are nearly 60 different kinds. Adults eat flower nectar and decaying matter at first, but after mating the females need a meal of blood to feed their developing eggs. Most of the mosquito species prefer to bite birds, small mammals or even frogs, but some like humans too.
Mosquitoes can insert their flexible snouts quite painlessly, so you might not feel a thing. It is the mosquito saliva entering the bite that causes the itch. For some folks, the itching and swelling lasts for hours. But the bites can be more than just a nuisance. Several diseases are transmitted by mosquitoes, including malaria, encephalitis, and zika in people, and heartworms in dogs.
Fortunately, you can decrease mosquito populations around your house and protect yourself with a few simple precautions. Mosquitoes lay their eggs in water. Eliminate places for egg laying by keeping rain gutters unplugged, and by eliminating old tires and containers that hold rain water around your yard. And use insect repellent when outside in mosquito country.
Mosquitoes are here to stay, but a few simple preventative measures will help make your summer a little more comfortable.
Biting Mosquito Answers
- Mosquitoes are small flies that look a lot like their cousins in the fly family, the crane flies and midges.
- Female mosquitoes drink blood from vertebrate animals.
- Adults have one pair of transparent wings; upon close inspection, you can see a fringe of hairs and scales along the edges and veins of the wings. The legs are long, and there is a long proboscis (pro-BAH-siss) that is used like a straw for drinking. The antennae are featherlike in males.
- Larvae, called “wrigglers,” are aquatic, with a large head and thorax and narrow, wormlike abdomen; they typically hang just below the water surface, breathing air through tubes at the end of the abdomen. When disturbed, they wriggle downward.
- Mosquitoes have one pair of transparent wings, which have fringe of hairs and scales along the edges and veins.
For more on mosquitoes, visit the MDC’s Field Guide.
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