Get to Know Your Enemy

Amazing but True Facts You Have to Know about Mosquitoes

• Mosquitoes breed quite frequently.  Also, each female lays more than 200 eggs at a time, and eggs can remain alive for about five years.
• Water is absolutely necessary for mosquitoes to go through their life cycle.
• Several mosquito species do not bite humans to get the blood they need to produce their eggs.  Some bite birds, some bite horses while others prefer amphibians like turtles or frogs.
• Only female mosquitoes bite in order to suck blood.  Male mosquitoes feed only on the nectar of plants.
• The amount of blood a female mosquito sucks during a single bite is about 5-millionths of a litre.
• Not all mosquitoes remain at the same place where their larval habitat is. Some of them can fly as far as 20 miles away, or even farther.
• During the day, adult mosquitoes often rest in grasslands or shrubbery but they do not breed in those areas.
• Mosquitoes cause more human deaths than any other insect or animal on the planet.
• One good thing about mosquito bites is that they do not transmit AIDS.
• Mosquito bites can prove fatal for cats and dogs. They can transmit heartworm, a parasite that enters the heart and arteries of these animals and leads them to suffering and death.
• There are about 3500 different species of mosquitoes in the world. In the USA only, more than 150 different species can be found.
• Mosquitoes have very poor eyesight and they can see you only when they are at a distance of 30 feet or closer.  However, they are attracted by the heat and the smell of the human body.
• The life expectancy of a mosquito depends on environmental conditions such as temperature and humidity.  A female mosquito can live between 3 and 100 days, but the male mosquito lives only from 10 to 20 days.
• Mosquitoes detect the carbon dioxide a human exhales from 60 to 70 feet away.
• Mosquitoes can travel quite fast for the size of their body.  They are able to fly about 1 to 1.5 miles per hour.
• Mosquitoes beat their wings amazingly fast – from 300 to 600 times per second!

• The noise a female’s wings make while beating attracts males. On the other hand, males identify the correct species of female by the pitch of the sound their wings make.
• Some people seem to attract mosquito bites more than others. There is no clear explanation for this, but it may have to do with the many chemicals that human skin produces.

Go to the official mosquito patch website and get protection now