The life span of a mosquito goes through the following stages: an egg, a larva, a pupa, an imago. It is known that only females bite a person and drink blood. This happens just after mating. The blood is digested and at the same time the egg ripens. When the time is right, the female begins to lay eggs. A place for this can serve as a small puddle, a groove or a pit filled with water. Mosquitoes find a place, focusing on the humidity of the air. The laying of eggs takes place in the following ways:
1. Each egg separately, one at a time.
2. "Parties" - the eggs are glued together.
At one time the female lays about one hundred and twenty - one hundred and fifty eggs. The lifetime of a mosquito at this stage depends on the temperature of the water. Also, the safety of the chosen place plays an important role. In general, the average duration of development of eggs is from forty hours to eight days. At the end of this stage, fairly mobile larvae appear, whose body consists of the head, chest, abdomen, and the size is about two millimeters. Nutrition for larvae is provided by organisms living in water, plants and so on. With the naked eye, it is very easy to detect the larvae. They usually hang out on the surface of the water.
For the duration of life of the mosquito (in the stage of the larva), it moults four times, and after the last molt turns into a pupa. The body resembles a comma and consists of a more massive cephalothorax and a bowed tapering abdomen. Pupa for a long time can be under water in a state of movement and more protected from external influences. At the end of this stage, it changes color to almost black.
The life span of a mosquito at this stage is regulated by very complex processes, as a result of which an adult, ready-to-fly mosquito-imago appears. The protective shell on the back of the pupa is broken, and through the gap formed, first the head is released, then the breast and at the end - the limbs and wings. A few minutes after the "birth" mosquito arrives at the greenery growing near the pond. Males always appear before females. They gather in a place of brood in swarms, as if waiting for their future "brides" to continue the cycle of the birth of new individuals. The instinct of bloodsucking wakes up in fertilized females. When she is hungry, she can smell the smell of people and animals at a distance of up to three kilometers. For one bite, a mosquito can suck blood more than its own weight. The life span of a female mosquito is two to three weeks, and sometimes - about 120 days (in the presence of favorable conditions). Males live much less.
For a warm period of the year, three to four generations of mosquitoes grow, and in the southern latitudes - twice as many.
Recently, scientists have concluded that poor environmental conditions and environmental degradation have not affected how and how many mosquitoes live, on their ability to breed. On the contrary, these insects perfectly adapted and changed their key signs of life. For example, a mosquito can live and multiply well in dirty water.