mosquitoes

Mosquitoes

Habitat: Shaded areas, stagnant water, clogged gutters. Behavior: Dust and dawn feeders, attracted to carbon dioxide, and movement. Breeding: Each female can lay up to 500 eggs at a time.
Interesting Mosquito Facts
  • Mosquitoes are known on Earth from as far back as the Triassic Period – 400 million years ago. They are known from North America from the Cretaceous – 100 million years ago.
  • There are about 2,700 species of mosquito. There are 176 species in the United States.
  • The average mosquito weighs about 2.5 milligrams.
  • The average mosquito takes in about 5-millionths of a liter of blood during feeding.
  • Mosquitoes find hosts by sight (they observe movement); by detecting infra-red radiation emitted by warm bodies; and by chemical signals (mosquitoes are attracted to carbon dioxide and lactic acid, among other chemicals) at distances of 25 to 35 meters.
  • Mosquitoes fly an estimated 1 to 1.5 miles per hour.
  • Bigger people are often more attractive to mosquitoes because they are larger targets and they produce more mosquito attractants, namely CO2 and lactic acid.
  • Active or fidgety people also produce more CO2 and lactic acid.
  • Women are usually more attractive to mosquitoes than men because of the difference in hormones produced by the sexes.
  • Blondes tend to be more attractive to mosquitoes than brunettes.