Page 131 - Florida Pest Control Examinations

Mosquito Life Cycle

Eggs

Larval/Instar
Pupa

Larval/Instar
Photos Courtesy of UNIVAR

MOSQUITOES, CONTINUED

Mosquitoes find their hosts by the use of antennae and NOT by sight. They are attracted to
moisture, warmth, and carbon dioxide—exactly what you exhale, which frequently leads them
to you as you sleep. They are excellent fliers, with some species showing a range of 18-110
miles in the extreme. The average mosquito will fly upwind no more than about two miles and
downwind up to nine miles. Most mosquitoes will stay within a three-mile range, flying between
five and fifty feet off the ground. They prefer light winds with velocities of below six MPH.

Mosquitoes and the Diseases They Can Carry

Almost everyone has had the bad experience of being bitten by a mosquito. Mosquito bites
can cause severe skin irritation through an allergic reaction to the mosquito’s saliva --this is
what causes the familiar red bump and itching. They can be voracious feeders--a mosquito can
show a weight gain of up to 140% with a single meal of blood. But mosquitoes are more than
just blood-sucking pests. A far more serious consequence of some mosquito bites can be the
transmission of certain infectious diseases such as Malaria, the West Nile virus, Yellow fever,
Filariasis, Dengue fever, and several forms of Encephalitis. With the establishment of Mosquito
Abatement Districts the endemic Malaria problem has been eliminated, but with malaria still
being a serious worldwide problem, human hosts can bring it into our country where it has still
spread in small areas before being detected and treated.
Over the past few years the mosquito-borne West Nile virus has been spread across the
United States from the northeast, where it was first detected in 1999. The virus can cause
fever and severe headaches, and may cause serious illness in people over 50 years of age,
including swelling of the brain and spinal cord. The Center for Disease Control reports that the
West Nile virus is permanently established in North America.

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