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My Home:
I will usually remain within one
mile of the place where my egg hatched. I am found most often near a
water source; rivers, ponds, lakes, streams or pools of standing water.
What I
eat: As a larva, I eat the
organic material in the water. As an adult, I will drink the nectar or
juices from decaying materials. Only the female mosquito will bite.
The females require a blood meal to develop her eggs.
What I
look like: I am 1/2 to 3/4 of an
inch in length, gray in color with a long needle like mouth part that is
used to drink my food.
How I am
born: I go through four stages
of development: egg, larva, pupa and adult. A female will lay her eggs
in water, 100 to 300 at a time. As a larva in the water, I breathe by
using a tube I stick up above the surface like a snorkel. My life cycle
from egg to adult is about a month. Female mosquitoes live up to 100
days. The males only live approximately 20 days.
Fun
Facts: Mosquitoes were around
about 170 million years ago during the time of the dinosaurs. Remember
to use your repellent!
There
are around 3,500 species of mosquitoes. |
