Life Cycle of a Mosquito

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Learn all about the life cycle of mosquitoes and why it is necessary to prevent them breeding around our homes, gardens, schools and cities. He'd too ngscience.com for a range of related resources for use in the classroom or at home.

Insects play an important role in most ecosystems around the world. They help to recycle nutrients and provide a food source for many other organisms. Some insects also help in the processes of pollination and seed dispersal in plants.

Insects are definitely a fascinating group of organisms, but there is one type of insect I am not a fan of....mosquitoes or as us Australians like to call them, mozzies.

Their bites can ruin your picnic and their annoying buzz can keep you up at night. Most importantly, some mozzies can spread diseases like malaria and dengue fever. To help prevent the spread of these diseases and control mosquito populations, it important to learn about their life cycle. So, let's take a look.

In order to reproduce, mosquitoes need fresh water that is stagnant. Stagnant means the water is not flowing, like the water in ponds, puddles and around the base of plant pots.

After mating, a female mosquito lays eggs in water. The eggs are grouped together forming an egg raft.

A mosquito larva hatches from each egg. The larvae do not look like adult mosquitoes at all. They have elongated bodies that hang at the surface of the water. They get the oxygen they need to taking in air through a snorkel-like tube called a siphon. They get the food they need by filter-feeding on microorganisms around them.

To escape danger, larvae will often dive below the surface in an S-like motion which is why they often get called wrigglers. The larvae molt and grow rapidly with the whole larval stage lasting around 10 days.

Next up, the mosquito enters the non-feeding pupal stage. Pupae still require oxygen and take in air at the surface of the water. Pupae are sensitive to changes in their environment and respond by rolling below the surface giving them the nickname 'tumblers'. The pupal stage lasts for just a few days after which an adult mosquito emerges.

Male adult mosquitoes usually feed on nectar from flowers. Female adult mosquitoes feed on the blood of humans and other animals. The blood is used to produce the eggs from which larvae with hatch and the life cycle continues.

There are around 3000 different species of mosquitoes that all undergo the same four-stage life cycle. Egg, larva, pupa, and adult. In all species, the larva and pupa stages are aquatic.

Not all mozzies spread disease, but two bad fellas to watch out for are Aedes mosquitoes which can spread dengue fever and Anopheles mosquitoes that can spread malaria.

So now that we know the stages in the life cycle of mosquitoes, how can we use this knowledge to keep these pests away from our homes, gardens and parks?