Believe it or not…
Mosquitoes are the deadliest animals on earth! Worldwide, mosquito-borne diseases kill more people than any other single factor.
Mosquitoes vector (spread) several types of encephalitis, dog heart worm, yellow fever, dengue, west nile, and malaria.
Only female mosquitoes bite. Male mosquitoes do not bite. The female mosquitoes suck blood from a person’s skin to obtain protein, which helps them with egg development. Males feed only on plant nectar.
Mosquitoes have been around since the dinosaur days. Ancient mosquitoes were up to three times larger than today’s mosquitoes.
Male mosquitoes are slightly smaller than females.
Did you know that mosquitoes hunt by smelling? Mosquitoes are attracted to carbon dioxide in our breath. They can detect it from 60 to 75 feet away.
Do you have a particular taste? Mosquitoes are more attracted to women than to men. They are also more attracted to blond haired women than redheads.
Mosquitoes like to aim for moving targets.
The mosquito’s visual picture, produced by various parts of its body, is an infrared view produced by its prey’s body temperature.
A mosquito wing beats from 300 to about 600 times per second. Male mosquitoes find their females by listening to the sound of the wing beating.
Mosquitoes are more attracted to darker colors. Try wearing white or light colored clothes the next time you are planning to be out at night.
All mosquitoes require water to breed. Some species can breed in puddles left after a rainstorm.
A single female mosquito can lay 100 to 300 eggs at a time and may average 1,000 to 3,000 eggs during their lifespan.
Mosquito eggs can survive for more than 5 years.
An adult mosquito weighs only 1/15,000 of an ounce.
There are over 170 described species of mosquitoes from North America. Several species have been accidentally introduced from other parts of the world.
There are about 2,700 different mosquito species throughout the world.
A mosquito has two eyes that make up the majority of its head. Each eye is filled with little lenses so it can see from multiple directions at the same time.
When female mosquitoes drink blood, they purify the blood in their systems and leave a small puddle of urine on their victim’s skin. That is why when you first get bit, you may notice a small wet spot surrounding the bite.
The average mosquito can only fly up to 1.5 miles per hour.
Mosquitoes cannot fly too high. They usually fly between 25 and 40 feet up in the air.
Most mosquito species can only fly about 300 feet before they need to rest.
Visit our Pest I.D pages of our website to learn more about mosquitoes. Also check out the mosquito page for information on our mosquito reduction programs.