Mosquito

Mosquitoes are a family of small flies with over 3,600 different species. They are called "little fly" in Spanish and Portuguese. Mosquitoes have thin bodies, one pair of wings, and long legs. They also have a special mouthpart that helps them pierce and suck liquid.

All mosquitoes drink nectar from flowers, but many female mosquitoes also drink blood from animals. This helps them make eggs. Mosquitoes went through four stages to become adults: egg, larva, pupa, and adult. Their larvae, which live in water, are eaten by many animals like dragonfly nymphs, fish, and birds.

When a mosquito bites, it puts saliva into the skin, which can make the area itchy. Some mosquitoes can carry diseases like malaria and yellow fever, which they pass to other animals or people when they bite. Because of this, mosquitoes cause many illnesses and deaths around the world each year.

Description and life cycle

Mosquitoes, like all flies, have four stages in their life: egg, larva, pupa, and adult. The first three stages usually happen in water. Eggs hatch into larvae, which grow and change into pupae. Finally, the adult mosquito emerges from the pupa when it floats on the water's surface. Adult mosquitoes can live from a week to about a month, and some can survive through winter.

Adult mosquitoes have one pair of wings and long, thin legs. Their bodies are usually gray or black and measure between 3 to 6 mm long. Females need blood to develop their eggs, so they find a host, drink blood, rest for a few days, and then lay their eggs. This cycle repeats until the female mosquito can no longer lay eggs.

Feeding by adults

Both male and female mosquitoes drink things like nectar and plant juices. But female mosquitoes in many species also drink blood, which helps them make eggs. Blood gives them important nutrients like proteins.

Mosquitoes look for animals to bite by following smells like carbon dioxide that we breathe out. They especially like people with type O blood, and they also notice things like body heat and certain skin smells. Females use special parts on their mouths to bite the skin and drink blood. Their saliva helps keep the blood flowing while they feed. After drinking blood, females use it to make eggs over several days.

Distribution

Cosmopolitan

Mosquitoes are found almost everywhere except Antarctica and a few islands. They live in every land region because they can survive in many different climates. In very cold places, some mosquitoes can still live by hiding in warm spots like buildings or hollow trees. In warm areas, mosquitoes can be active all year, but in colder places they rest during winter.

Effect of climate change

Climate change affects where mosquitoes live and spread diseases. Warmer temperatures allow mosquitoes to move to new areas. For example, some diseases that spread through mosquitoes are now appearing in places like Europe. Scientists use climate data to predict where these diseases might spread next. As temperatures rise, even places like southern Scotland may see mosquitoes that can carry diseases like malaria for part of the year.

Ecology

Mosquito larvae live in ponds and are an important food source for many freshwater animals. Predators include insects like dragonflies and whirligig beetles, as well as fish such as mosquitofish, amphibians like the spadefoot toad, and birds like ducks.

Adult mosquitoes are eaten by animals such as predatory flies, spiders, dragonflies, birds like swifts and swallows, and mammals like bats. Mosquitoes can also be affected by tiny organisms such as mites, certain single-celled creatures, and fungi.

Some flowers, including certain orchids, are pollinated by mosquitoes that visit them for sugar-rich nectar. These mosquitoes are attracted to flowers by various smells and can also see special colors. Mosquitoes have been helping plants reproduce this way since the Cretaceous period.

Further information: Parasitism

Evolution

Fossil record

A 2023 study found that Libanoculex intermedius, discovered in Lebanese amber from about 125 million years ago, might be the oldest known mosquito. However, some scientists think it could be a different kind of fly called a chaoborid. Seven other clear mosquito species from the same time period have been found. These include Burmaculex and Cretosabethes primaevus, found in Burmese amber from around 99 million years ago, and Paleoculicis minutus from Canadian amber in Alberta, Canada, dating to about 79 million years ago. These discoveries suggest that mosquitoes were already quite diverse before the middle of a major geological period, even though fossils of them are rare.

Taxonomy

Further information: List of mosquito genera

There are over 3,700 types of mosquitoes, grouped into 112 groups. They are split into two main families: the Anophelinae and the Culicinae. These groups spread different sicknesses. For example, Anophelinae can spread diseases like malaria, while Culicinae can spread diseases such as yellow fever and dengue fever.

The name Culicidae was first used by a German scientist named Johann Wilhelm Meigen in books he wrote between 1818 and 1838. In 1901, another scientist, Frederick Vincent Theobald, wrote an important book about mosquitoes after studying many samples sent to the British Museum (Natural History) from all over the world.

Phylogeny

External

Mosquitoes belong to a group of insects called true flies, known scientifically as the order Diptera. They are part of a smaller group called the Culicidae, which comes from a Latin word meaning "midge" or "gnat." They are also part of larger groups called Culicomorpha and Culicoidea.

Internal

The two main families of mosquitoes are Anophelinae, with about 430 types, and Culicinae, which includes 108 groups and over 3,000 types. In 2009, scientists studied the family tree of mosquitoes using DNA and physical features from 26 different types. They found that Anophelinae is one of the earlier groups, but some parts of the family tree are still unclear.

Interactions with humans

Vectors of disease

Mosquitoes can spread many sicknesses by carrying tiny germs like bacteria, viruses, and protozoan parasites. Every year, nearly 700 million people get sick from diseases spread by mosquitoes, and many sadly pass away. Some common diseases include yellow fever, chikungunya, and dengue fever, usually spread by a type of mosquito called Aedes aegypti. Another serious disease is malaria, caused by Plasmodium parasites carried by female Anopheles mosquitoes.

Control

There are many ways people try to stop mosquitoes from spreading diseases. Some methods include getting rid of places where mosquitoes lay eggs, using window screens or mosquito nets to keep them out, and using natural enemies like certain fish, copepods, dragonfly nymphs, and some lizards and gecko species. Scientists have also looked into using sterile male mosquitoes and special genetic changes to control disease-carrying mosquitoes.

Repellents

Main article: Insect repellent

People use special products called insect repellents on their skin to help keep mosquitoes away. One common repellent is DEET. Other good choices recommended by health experts include picaridin, eucalyptus oil (PMD), and ethyl butylacetylaminopropionate (IR3535). Some devices that make ultrasounds claim to keep mosquitoes away, but studies have not proven that they work.

Bites

When mosquitoes bite, it can cause itchy spots on the skin. Some people have strong reactions to the proteins in mosquito saliva, which can make the bite worse. Many types of mosquitoes can cause this. To help with the itching, people can use anti-itch medicines like diphenhydramine taken by mouth or antihistamines and corticosteroids put on the skin. Aqueous ammonia (3.6%) can also help, and applying heat or cold may provide relief.

In human culture

Greek mythology

Ancient Greek stories about animals, such as "The Elephant and the Mosquito" and "The Bull and the Mosquito", teach that big animals often ignore tiny ones. These tales come from Mesopotamia.

Origin myths

People from Siberia have stories about how mosquitoes began. One story from the Ostiak people tells of a giant who eats people, named Punegusse. A hero kills the giant, but he keeps coming back to life. Finally, the hero burns the giant, and the ashes become mosquitoes that bother people forever. Other stories from the Yakuts, Goldes (Nanai people), and Samoyed people also say mosquitoes came from the ashes of a big monster or evil spirit. Similar stories exist among Native North American tribes, where mosquitoes come from the ashes of a monster that eats people. The Tatars of the Altai have a version of this story too, where pieces of a dead giant named Andalma-Muus turn into mosquitoes and other insects.

In Japan, writer Lafcadio Hearn said that mosquitoes are seen as spirits of people who have passed away. They are thought to be stuck in a state where they must drink blood because of mistakes they made in their past lives.

Modern era

In 1912, animator Winsor McCay made an early animated film called How a Mosquito Operates. It shows a giant mosquito bothering a man who is trying to sleep.

The Royal Navy has had twelve ships named HMS Mosquito or the older name HMS Musquito.

From 1940 to 1950, a fast airplane called the de Havilland Mosquito was made and used for many different jobs.

Every year, the city of Berezniki in Russia celebrates its mosquitoes from July 17 to July 20 with a contest. Women stand for 20 minutes wearing only shorts and undershirts (or vests in British English), and the woman who gets bitten the most wins.

Needles used in medicine are sometimes designed using ideas from the mosquito proboscis inspired needles, a method called biomimetic design.