Mosquito Facts and Myths

Mosquito Facts and Myths

Mosquitoes have been around since the Jurassic period, 210 million years. They’re still going strong and they’ve plagued the human race throughout our evolution. Aristotle mentioned them in his writings almost two and a half thousand years ago, and British author D H Lawrence hated the insects so much he wrote a famously vicious poem about one.

Mosquitoes spread disease and cause endless discomfort. Some people get bitten time and time again but the insects avoid other people like the plague. Alexander the Great may have died of malaria in 323BC. The Anopheles mosquito is the biggest danger, the transmitter of malaria and killer of more than a million people every year, mostly in Africa. Altogether it has a terrifying reputation considering it’s such a tiny creature.

Here are some key mosquito facts and myths to help you get an accurate perspective on this hugely unpopular insect. Like it or hate it, mosquito bites are well worth avoiding. To do that you need the facts, not old wives’ tales and junk science.

35 mosquito facts

  1. There are more than 3500 species of mosquito worldwide
  2. Female mosquitoes bite people, males don’t
  3. Both sexes usually eat fruit and nectar but the female also needs blood protein to create good quality eggs. When she has fed, she’ll rest for a few days before laying as many as 300 eggs in one session
  4. Females lay eggs every three days or so for their entire lives
  5. Mosquitoes bite with a sharp proboscis, which is part of the mouth. They pierce the skin and suck blood into their body through a choice of two special tubes. They can drink as much as three times their own weight in blood
  6. Mosquito eggs are usually found in clusters called rafts, floating on top of stagnant water. They also like to lay eggs where flooding is common, and eggs can hatch in as little as 2.5cm of water
  7. Mosquito larvae spend their first 10 days in water, where they feed on organic matter and take in oxygen at the surface. After 10 days or so they pupate, then they hatch into adult insects
  8. Mosquitoes hate cold weather. Anything below 80 degrees and they’re unhappy. If it dips below 50 degrees some species  hibernate
  9. Female mosquitoes can easily live for two months or so but males only live about ten days
  10. Females who hibernate can survive as long as six months
  11. Eggs laid in chilly weather often survive to hatch when the temperature rises
  12. It’s sometimes difficult to tell the difference between mosquitoes, midges and craneflies. Midges bite too but they’re much smaller and live in swarms. Craneflies are a lot bigger than any mosquito and they don’t bite humans
  13. Males find females by listening for the sound their wings make, beating as many as 500 times a second and giving out a high frequency buzz
  14. Mosquitoes stay home – they can’t fly far and rarely get more than a couple of miles. Having said that, some marsh-loving species can fly as far as 40 miles
  15. When they fly, they go fast – an average mosquito can fly at one and a half miles an hour, faster when helped by the wind
  16. They like low ground, although some have been found in the Himalayas at dizzying heights. Perhaps they were blown there, nobody knows
  17. Mosquitoes are not passive hunters. They actively hunt you. They can smell you coming, equipped to detect CO2, and will follow the trail of your exhalations until they find you. They can also detect body heat
  18. The insects choose their victims based on sweat. Human skin generates an impressive 340 different smells, and the insects like some more than others
  19. They also sometimes enjoy the scent of skin lotions and perfume, but other times they hate them – there’s no telling which scents might repel the insects and which won’t
  20. West Nile virus and Chikungunya are mosquito-borne illnesses and they’re both common in the USA these days
  21. Mosquitoes feed day and night. Some species bite most during the day, others after dark
  22. The bumps on your skin come from a mild allergic reaction to the insects’ saliva. This contains a painkiller, which is why you don’t always feel the bite until it’s too late
  23. DEET is currently the best repellent. Mosquitoes hate the smell
  24. A 10% DEET lotion only provides 90 minutes of protection, so you need to re-apply it frequently
  25. Picaridin alsdo works well as a repellent, as does lemon-eucalyptus oil
  26. Mosquitoes like dark clothes because they like heat and dark clothing retains more of it
  27. Bigger people tend to be bitten more, simply because they give off more heat and CO2 than small people so are easier for the insects to find
  28. The insecticide Permethrin is effective and common, used to kill the insects on contact. But it doesn’t harm eggs and larvae
  29. Bats and birds don’t tend to eat many of the insects. Perhaps they taste as nasty as they actually are!
  30. Fish, on the other hand, love a mosquito meal. People all over the world use the Gambusia fish to keep mosquito populations under control
  31. Mosquitoes are also excellent dragonfly food, and in some at-risk places flocks of the insects are released into the wild every year to keep mosquito numbers down
  32. Bug zappers don’t work. Instead, they tend to kill ‘good’ insects and leave the mosquitoes alone. The same goes for electronic repellers, tried and tested by scientists and proved to fail
  33. Some kinds of alcohol encourage mosquitoes to bite more, probably because there’s more ethanol in your sweat
  34. You won’t get mosquitoes in your hot tub or swimming pool, since they dislike the chemicals
  35. Never underestimate the humble mosquito net. It’s one of your best weapons

12 mosquito myths

  1. Not all mosquitoes don’t bite humans – only some species
  2. Mosquitoes do not transmit HIV
  3. Potassium, meat and saturated fat have been linked to more mosquito bites – if you consume them you might be more at risk, on the other hand there’s absolutely no scientific proof
  4. Mosquitoes don’t necessarily prefer people with a Type O blood group – it’s merely anecdotal and there’s no proof
  5. There’s also no proof to the rumour that people with diabetes are more attractive to mosquitoes. The insects don’t go for sugar, it’s the protein in your blood they’re after
  6. People with pale skin can get a stronger reaction to bites, simply because their skin produces more of a histamine reaction than darker skin. This does not mean fair-skinned people are more likely to be bitten in the first place
  7. Pinching your skin doesn’t stop the insect from removing its proboscis. You just give it more time and opportunity to suck up blood, more time to leave spit on your skin and, ultimately, a much worse bite
  8. Eating loads of garlic and bananas doesn’t keep mosquitoes at bay…
  9. … but a Vitamin B12 cuts the number of bites you get by 40%
  10. Citronella candles don’t repel mosquitoes. You’re better off rubbing citronella into your skin
  11. Perfumes and lotions don’t make you either more or less attractive to mosquitoes
  12. Contrary to popular belief you CAN be bitten before sunset

More about mosquitoes and bugs

If you’d like to read more about avoiding trouble with mosquitoes and other bugs, follow this link to our Insects and Bugs page.