The silhouette of a mosquito.
Mosquitoes are one of the most dangerous animals on Earth, accounting for up to 2 million deaths per year. These deaths are caused by diseases, which the female mosquito transfers when it sucks on an animal's blood (the male mosquito usually survives off of nectar and sugar), which provides its main source of nourishment. However, mosquitoes are also one of the world's most abundant organisms, with around 3,500 recognized species. They have a life cycle that takes them through a variety of developmental stages.
Mating
Mating usually takes place at dusk and involves large swarms. Males, which are only a few days old, will swarm in groups of thousands, usually by water, and females will fly in to mate. The males will live for around a week before they die off, feeding off of plant nectar and sugar. The female also eats nectar for energy, but will seek out a blood meal to help develop her now-fertilized eggs.
Egg Development
After biting an animal, usually a mammal or a bird, the female will digest the blood, releasing proteolytic enzymes that hydrolyze the blood into free amino acids which are then used to create the yolks for her eggs. Once she has finished, she will lay her eggs in a water source, usually a free-standing source like a calm pond, a birdbath or even rain-filled wagons, jars or trashcans--virtually any container with nonmoving water.
Larval Stage
The eggs will hatch after a few days and emerge as larvae, which are sometimes referred to as "wigglers." These larvae are only about 10 mm long and have a wormlike tube shape. They are completely aquatic, but come to the surface to breathe through the use of openings called spiracles. They move by wiggling their bodies, hence their nickname, and feed off of bacteria, algae and other microorganisms in the water. They will shed their skin (moult) about four times before progressing to the pupal stage.
Pupal Stage
The pupal stage of the mosquito is much less active than the larval stage. In this stage, they cocoon themselves in a type of sheath while they morph into what will eventually become the adult mosquito. While in this stage, which is commonly referred to as the "tumbler" stage, they will come to the surface only to breathe using two respiratory tubes, like organic snorkels, and not eat. After a few days, the pupa will rise to the surface, where it will break out of the sheath into its adult stage.
Adult Stage
About 10 days after birth, the mosquitoes will finally take to the air as adults. All mosquitoes have segmented bodies made up of a head, thorax and abdomen and rarely exceed more than about half an inch in length. Females are much smaller than the males and both have heads that contain long antennae which are useful for sensing odors, tracking down mammals for feeding, and finding breeding swarms. After a few days of flying about, the breeding process and life cycle of the mosquito begins anew.
Tags: come surface, life cycle, nectar sugar, pupal stage, stage they