How mosquitoes mate. Where do mosquitoes come from

Blood-sucking insects are found on almost all continents. City residents and summer residents, fishermen and hunters are actively fighting with them. To do this, they use special devices and insecticidal preparations. And not always their actions bring the desired result. This is because people do not know how mosquitoes reproduce, what factors affect the duration of their existence.

The main habitat of blood-sucking insects:

• Swamps.
• Reservoirs and tanks with stagnant water.
• Lowlands.
• Dense shrubs.

In our country, peeping mosquitoes are more common, which interfere with resting at home and in nature in the summer. How long mosquitoes live depends largely on such factors:

1. Temperature regime. The acceptable temperature range for female blood-sucking insects is + 10- + 15 degrees. Their life expectancy reaches 4 months. If the temperature rises to +20 degrees, then it is reduced to 2-2.5 months. In similar conditions, the male lives 1.5-2 times less.
2. Humidity level. In order for a mosquito or squeaker to develop and multiply normally, moisture is necessary. Therefore, insects are found in basements, containers with stagnant water and pantries, from where they breed. To reduce their number, experts recommend periodically checking the containers and changing the water. In specialized stores there are chemical compounds with which you can purify water from larvae.
3. Food. For normal development, pests require food. Males feed on plant nectar. Females require protein for development and reproduction. This is why mosquitoes drink blood during the gestation period. As a source of protein, blood-sucking pests choose people or warm-blooded animals.
4. The presence of enemies. Birds, reptiles and other animals that feed on insects can reduce the mosquito population. The number of blood-sucking insects is also reduced by people who use chemicals, insecticides and various devices for destruction.

If you create ideal conditions, then mosquitoes can survive the winter period. To do this, they fall into a peculiar state. Under real conditions, females live 40-50 days, and males - about 20 days.

Reproduction and stages of development of insects

Before you know how blood-sucking mosquitoes reproduce, you need to study certain facts. The oral apparatus of males does not allow them to penetrate under the skin and look for blood vessels. Their main food is the nectar of plants and flowers. They exist to mate with females and reproduce. Females require a protein that is present in the blood. This component is necessary for the maturation of eggs. The number of eggs depends on how much lymph the blood-sucking insect consumes.

The insect lays eggs 2-3 times a week. To do this, it flies up to a reservoir or container, and also dumps formed eggs. In order to save future offspring, the pest randomly moves and sheds eggs. They get on algae, moss and other plants. After that, birth begins. It includes the following stages:

• The egg resembles a kind of bubble in which air is present. Therefore, it hangs in the water. The larva appears in a week.
• The larva is similar to a worm. She has small brushes in her mouth, which are used to search for food, as well as filter water. Worms feed on small organic debris, algae and certain bacteria. To get a certain portion of air, the larva rises to the surface. After 14–21 days, pupae appear.
• The pupa resembles a tadpole. She does not eat. For 2–4 days, until wings and limbs appear, the pupa absorbs air.

How mosquitoes breed in a pond or in an apartment, how long it takes, depends on the conditions and the presence of natural enemies. If ideal conditions are created, then the number of squeakers is rapidly increasing.

Differences between midges and mosquitoes

Blood-sucking insects and midges live next to containers or water bodies. These places are used by them for laying eggs. But the midge lays about 1,000 eggs within 25-30 days. Therefore, it is problematic to deal with midges. To reproduce, the midge consumes a certain amount of blood. To do this, they violate the integrity of the skin. Due to the fact that the midge bites painfully, it interferes with normal rest for people near the river or near the house. Adult midges disappear immediately after laying eggs. After all, its main function is reproduction.

mosquito season

The blood-sucking insect breeds throughout the summer. But the maximum number of eggs is laid by the female pisk mosquito in July - August. After all, during this period, the duration of daylight hours is reduced and the level of humidity increases. Such conditions contribute to the normal development of midges, peeps and other blood-sucking insects.

Summer residents and owners of country houses are actively fighting pests from May to September. To do this, they use folk remedies, chemicals and insecticides, devices and devices. When selecting, people are guided by the size of the population, composition and method of use.

It is a very positive insect, then certainly little can be said positive about the hero of today's article - the mosquito. But you can say a lot of interesting things, for example, a mosquito is a very ancient representative of the fauna of our planet, these small flying bloodsuckers have bothered dinosaurs, and in our time they are no less annoying.

Mosquito: description, structure, characteristics. What does a mosquito look like?

The mosquito belongs to the order Diptera and the family of blood-sucking mosquitoes. Mosquitoes have been living on Earth for 145 million years.

The mosquito has a thin body from 4 to 14 mm in length. Mosquito wings are transparent, they reach up to 3 cm in diameter and are covered with small scales. The abdomen of a mosquito consists of ten segments. The mosquito's long legs end in two claws.

The color of a mosquito, in addition to the usual black or brown, can be very unusual, as green, yellow, orange and red mosquitoes are found in nature.

An interesting fact: among the large family of mosquitoes, there are also wingless species.

Also, mosquitoes have a kind of antenna, consisting of 15 parts, on which the olfactory organs and auditory receptors are located, working on the principle of a temperature sensor. It is with the help of such an antenna that the mosquito finds its prey.

How long do mosquitoes live

A very curious fact is that female mosquitoes live much longer than males, whose average life expectancy is only 17-19 days. The life expectancy of the female depends on the ambient temperature and can range from 40 to 120 days. True, given that it is female mosquitoes that suck blood, their life often ends prematurely ...

Where do mosquitoes live

Almost everywhere, with the exception of the always cold Antarctica, but these insects are most common in areas with a hot and humid climate, where they remain active throughout the year. In temperate latitudes, during the period of winter cold, they fall into hibernation, awakening with the advent of spring. It is interesting that even in the Arctic for those few weeks when it gets warm, mosquitoes breed with terrible force and are very annoying to the herds there.

What do mosquitoes eat

It is probably no secret to anyone that only female mosquitoes suck blood, while males are quite harmless creatures. Male mosquitoes feed exclusively on nectar or plant sap.

But for the reproduction of offspring, females need protein food, which they just get from the blood, both people and animals.

How does a mosquito bite

Sitting on the skin of their prey, female mosquitoes gnaw a hole in the skin with their sharp jaws, immerse their proboscis there, through which they suck blood. Simultaneously with the bite, a special saliva is injected into the wound, which prevents blood from clotting, it is she who causes an allergic reaction in the form of itching, redness of the skin and swelling.

Are mosquitoes dangerous to humans?

Yes, and it's not just swelling and unpleasant itching caused by mosquito bites, but the fact that many mosquitoes can be carriers of dangerous viruses and infections. Mosquitoes that live in the tropics of Asia, Africa and South America are especially dangerous, as they can be carriers of such dangerous diseases as malaria, encephalitis, yellow fever, Zika virus, West Nile fever, etc.

Enemies of mosquitoes

Of course, mosquitoes themselves have many enemies in natural conditions, so they and their larvae are a delicious delicacy for many insects, birds, fish and amphibians: newts, salamanders, dragonflies, spiders, water,.

It is also very interesting that mosquito larvae often feed on the larvae of insects such as the swimming beetle and dragonfly.

Difference between male and female mosquito

Mosquito male and female, what is the difference between them in appearance. First of all, in the structure of the oral organ - the jaws of the male are underdeveloped, because he does not need to gnaw through the skin in order to drink blood.

Types of mosquitoes, photos and names

In nature, there are a great many different types of mosquitoes, we will describe the most interesting of them:

Common mosquito (peeper)

It is the most common member of the mosquito family. It lives in a wide geographical range, it is these mosquitoes that often bother us during forest picnics, walks near water bodies, or even just at home.

Mosquito centipede (Karamora)

These mosquitoes live exclusively in places with high humidity: near water bodies, swamps, in shady thickets. They have large sizes for mosquitoes - they reach 4-8 cm in length. And also these mosquitoes are safe for humans, as they feed exclusively on nectar and plant juices, but can harm farmland and forest plantations.

Malarial mosquito (Anopheles)

Chionei (winter mosquitoes)

These mosquitoes look like both large spiders and weevils. However, they differ from both of them in their way of life. They differ from other mosquitoes in their ability to tolerate cold and therefore winter mosquitoes can be found even in winter.

Also known as mosquito bell. It is a harmless representative of the mosquito family, as it feeds exclusively on plant foods. It lives mainly along the banks of water bodies. It differs from other mosquitoes in its appearance - it has a yellowish-green color with long limbs.

mosquito breeding

The life cycle of a mosquito consists of four developmental stages:

• Egg: every 2-3 days, the female lays 30 to 150 eggs in the water, which mature in 2 to 8 days.
• Mosquito larva: emerges from the egg, then lives in the reservoir and feeds on the micro-organisms there. Breathe air through a special tube. During its development and formation, it goes through 4 molts, until it finally turns into a chrysalis.
• Pupa: its development also occurs in water and lasts up to 5 days. As it grows older, it changes its color, becoming black.
• Imago: is already an adult mosquito living on land.

First, the males fly out into the light, gathering in a swarm, they are waiting for the females to mate. After mating, the fertilized female goes in search of the blood she needs to lay her eggs.

How to get rid of mosquitoes at home

Sometimes mosquitoes have a bad habit of getting into houses, bothering people in every possible way. As a means of protection against mosquitoes, people have developed many means, among which special mosquito nets will be very useful, preventing mosquitoes from entering the house through open windows.

Another effective remedy for mosquitoes can be special repellents, substances that emit odors that repel mosquitoes, although their disadvantage may be the fact that the smells of repellents can have a bad effect not only on mosquitoes, but also on people.

As a folk remedy for fighting mosquitoes, a pot of geraniums is quite suitable, whose smell also repels these flying bloodsuckers.

• It was the mosquito that played a key role in the good old science fiction film Jurassic Park, through the blood found in the ancient mosquito that fell into amber, scientists were able to access the DNA of dinosaurs and thus “resurrect” these prehistoric pangolins.
• The flight speed of a mosquito is on average 3.2 km per hour, but skillfully using air currents, mosquitoes can fly up to 100 km.
• The weight of the mosquito is so small that once it hits the web, it will not cause vibrations and will not attract the attention of the spider.

Mosquitoes, video

And in conclusion, an interesting documentary film about one dangerous type of mosquito - "killer mosquitoes".

How long a mosquito lives depends on temperature conditions, habitat, nutrition, stage of development. The life of a female is almost 2 times longer than that of a male. A pupa can exist for about 120 days. The most favorable environment is wild nature, temperature up to +25 degrees Celsius, high humidity.

How mosquitoes breed

Young offspring appear in early spring - in late April, early May. They gather in the district of those places where they lived. Females and males lead a carefree life, feeding on the nectar of flowers. After a while, they begin to gather in flocks. Insects mate for several days, scatter in different directions. After that, depending on the gender, it undergoes changes. Males continue their lives in the grass, foliage of young trees, females go in search of food.

For the formation of eggs, female mosquitoes need protein, lipids, all this is received by an insect from the blood of animals, humans, less often birds. After full saturation, the mosquito flies to a calm place, digests food, during which time eggs are formed. Then he looks for a reservoir with stagnant water or damp earth, makes masonry.

Insects breed very quickly. At one time, the female mosquito reproduces from 50 to 150 pieces. Drops them one by one. Mosquito eggs stay on the surface of the water; at temperatures above +15 degrees Celsius, larvae appear after 9 hours. If the temperature is below these indicators, development is extended in time up to 20 days.

On a note!

How many eggs a mosquito lays depends on the habitat, food, life expectancy. In an apartment, the life cycle of an insect is shorter than in nature. The female does not have the opportunity to lay a large number of eggs, because there is simply nowhere. Without blood, an insect is able to give life to new offspring, but the clutch will be no more than 50 pieces, mosquitoes will appear small, weak, and the female dies in most cases.

How do mosquitoes appear, where does life begin

Mosquitoes die at temperatures above 25 degrees Celsius from dehydration. At low rates, they fall into suspended animation. In what month they disappear, stop flying - in June, when the temperature rises, in August. However, in wetlands, mosquitoes can live permanently, all summer. Disappear completely in autumn. The mosquito season in the Moscow region begins in May and ends in September.

On a note!

The mosquito family appears almost simultaneously with midges. The former are active in the evening, the latter during the day. The life expectancy of midges and mosquitoes is somewhat different. The midge flies for no more than 1 month. They begin to disappear in mid-June. During a drought period, they may die earlier or not appear at all.

Human danger

Mosquitoes drink blood to reproduce, to replenish energy reserves, to continue life. A person smells of lactic acid, carbon dioxide, sweat, and also warmth. Together

The process of procreation is an important part of the life of any living creature, and insects are no exception. How do mosquitoes reproduce? Probably, few people thought about this issue, and its subtleties are known only to biology lovers. Although this is quite an interesting process from the point of view of knowledge about the living world, which has its own characteristics and interesting facts.

Brief introduction to insects

Mosquitoes (other "official" names - real or blood-sucking mosquitoes) - from the point of view of biological classification, they represent the family Culicidae, defined as a group of Long-whiskers and a detachment of Diptera insects, which are characterized by sexual reproduction and complete transformation (metamorphoses from egg to adult: they will be discussed in detail later).

Adult female mosquitoes drink human blood and are part of the midges - a collection of blood-sucking insects, for which they deserve a strong dislike of people

Mosquitoes are small flying insects. The length of their thin and soft body y ranges from 4 mm to 15 mm. All representatives of the Culicidae family are characterized by the presence of long legs, which end in 2 claws for better grip on surfaces and stability, and narrow transparent wings, consisting of many Czechs. Their span ranges from 5 mm in the smallest species to 30 mm.

In tropical regions, there are real giants: for example, centipede mosquitoes, or caramora, in favorable conditions grow up to 10 cm in length, which is a record figure.

Most species of the Mosquito family have a nondescript color: gray, brown, yellow. Much less often (and mainly in southern countries) there are black or green specimens. The thoracic region of insects is wider than the abdomen. The long antennae necessary for the orientation of the insect in space are formed by 15 segments.

The mouth apparatus of a mosquito is of a piercing-sucking type. It is hidden in the lower lip of the insect, which is shaped like a tube. Inside it are sharp stylets of the jaws, similar to blades. They are needed to cut a microscopic hole in the skin, through which the sucking proboscis then penetrates to the layer of capillaries. At the same time, in females, it consists of piercing bristles, which are absent in males.

By the word "mosquito" people most often mean the peeping mosquito. It is he who annoys a person with his obsessive buzzing and painful bites.

In total, the Mosquito family has 3000 species, divided into 38 genera. Most of them live in southern countries with a tropical climate. Only 100 species are settled on the territory of Russia, representing 3 genera: real mosquitoes, biters and malaria.

The breeding process of mosquitoes

These are bisexual creatures, so a male and a female participate in the reproduction of mosquitoes. Future offspring go through 4 stages of development, which are characteristic of insects with complete transformation:

• egg;
• chrysalis;
• imago (sexually mature individual).

At the same time, insects are "land" creatures only in the very last stage of mosquito development: all the rest live in water bodies or in their immediate vicinity. After all, they need water to grow.

The reproductive system of mosquitoes

Representatives of the family have internal fertilization: after mating, the male's seed enters the female's genital tract, after which the formation of eggs begins. The genital organs of mosquitoes are located inside their abdomen: the ovaries in females and the testes in males. The microscopic external genital organs of the male have a very complex structure, the features of which are the key to distinguishing species that are outwardly similar to each other. Females also have a small ovipositor in the form of a short tube: through it, eggs are born.

"Marriage Games"

The type of mating of mosquitoes in the language of biology is called "eurygamy". Its peculiarity lies in the formation of a swarm - a dense cloud of male insects, keeping close to each other. Surely, everyone saw such flocks on summer evenings.

Female mosquitoes attract the attention of the opposite sex with a subtle buzz, like a squeak. This sound is created by the movement of the wings. Its frequency depends on the age of the individual, and males, with the help of their sensitive antennae, capture the slightest differences in sound, preferring more mature “girlfriends”.

When approaching a cloud of males, the female flies into it and turns out to be fertilized by the one who managed to do it first. To finish the job, the males have special appendages next to the genitals, with the help of which he keeps the female in a joint flight.

It is noteworthy that mosquito populations living in cities are characterized by stenogamy - reproduction without swarming, the implementation of which is difficult due to the lack of large and free space.

After a short mating, the male flies away from the female and returns to the rest. The female goes in search of the blood necessary for the continuation of the offspring.

Reproductive activity directly depends on the degree of saturation of the female with blood: with sufficient nutrition, she lays eggs every 2–3 days, after which she returns to the swarm of males again.

Eggs

Females each time make large clutches, which contain 30–150 mosquito eggs. The most prolific malarial species, producing about 280 pieces. The exact number is directly proportional to the amount of blood drunk by the female, which explains the aggression of insects towards humans.

Usually the female lays eggs directly on the surface of the water. To do this, she chooses freshwater, calm and stagnant reservoirs with a minimum flow rate. Ponds and quiet backwaters of lakes overgrown with reeds are ideal. More rarely, the mosquito lays on well-moistened soil along the banks or near temporary reservoirs that dry up in the summer and are refilled in the spring after the snow melts. Sometimes the female chooses floating objects and plants (this is more typical for the genus of Real mosquitoes, to which the well-known peeping mosquito is included).

Larva

Under favorable conditions, after only a few days, larvae enter the water from the lower end of the eggs. They look like small worms covered with hairs. The body color of mosquito larvae depends on the species. For example, in a piskun they are dirty gray, and in a twitch they are green or red. The latter are used in fishing and aquaristics, where they are known as bloodworms.

The larva and the pupa, which subsequently emerges from it, necessarily need a sufficient amount of air. Larvae of some species live at the very bottom of water bodies, buried in silt or mud, but every 15 minutes they must float to the surface to receive oxygen. Others can swim for a long time, curving with their whole body, on the very surface upwards with the “tail of the body”, because it is there that the respiratory organs of the worm are located - special tubes through which it breathes.

For the entire time of its development, which lasts an average of 20 days, the larva is waiting for 4 molts, after which it turns into a pupa. During them, she sheds her old exoskeleton, which allows her to increase in size more and more each time. For example, immediately after emerging from the egg, the length of the larva does not exceed 1 mm, and after the last molt it can reach 1 cm. At the same time, the body volume of the larva increases even more: almost 500 times.

chrysalis

Mosquito pupa - the penultimate stage of insect development has a more complex arrangement of internal organ systems. She also lives in the water and periodically floats to the surface, preparing to turn into a flying individual. The waiting time is approximately 5 days. Gradually it becomes dark in color.

The answer to the question of whether a mosquito has a chrysalis is positive, since this is an insect with a complete transformation cycle.

The behavior and nutrition of the larva and the pupa are almost identical, but the latter has one interesting feature: due to the shape and well-developed tail, they can move rapidly in the water column with jerky movements.

Imago

Imago is an adult insect that lives on land and participates in reproduction. Males live only 3 weeks, while females - 3 months if the air temperature is kept around 10-15 ° C. Under adverse conditions, life expectancy is reduced.

Reproduction is impossible without saturation of females with human blood. Therefore, mosquitoes are settled in almost all parts of the land where a person lives. They stay close to the settlements in order to be able to drink the blood of people at any time.

Each species has its own preferences in temperature and lighting conditions. Some like shady ponds, others like well-lit ones. Biologists have calculated that the larvae are able to develop when the water temperature is 10–35 °C, but between 25 °C and 30 °C is considered the most comfortable.

Mosquitoes rarely lay their eggs in large bodies of water in which many fish live, because they willingly feed on clutches.

The larva will die if the water is contaminated with oil products: they form a film on the surface through which the worms cannot breathe. But some species show an enviable adaptation, adapting to use the oxygen dissolved in water for breathing.

The process of how mosquitoes appear has been sufficiently studied by science. These insects are characterized by high fertility and feeding on human blood. Both of these features are directly dependent on each other.

Reproduction of mosquitoes directly depends on feeding insects with blood. During the active period, females lay eggs every 2-3 days. During the mating season, females attract males with a thin squeak, which is created

wings. Males feel it with the help of sensitive antennae and rush to the females. Insects form a swarm, and mating takes place in it. The reproduction of mosquitoes has one specific feature - blood is required in the diet of females during this period. Insects fly in search of the necessary ingredient.

Human blood is the main diet of females during the period when mosquitoes are breeding. People inhabit almost all areas of land suitable for life. Mosquitoes also live there. This happened thanks to man - insects settled after their main victim. For example, the common mosquito can adapt to different climates and conditions, and human blood is an ideal food for it. Each female lays 30 to 150 eggs exclusively on the surface of the water. Mosquitoes can breed in standing or

weak water bodies. Some species can lay their eggs on wet surfaces. But for a full cycle of development to the formation of an adult, the presence of water nearby is necessary. Although it may be enough and puddles that do not dry out for a long time.

The eggs are fastened together, forming something like a raft. There the larvae feed and grow. The larva leaves its house from below, immediately falling into the water. Then she turns into a moving chrysalis. The entire development cycle from eggs to adults is on average 1 week. Like all Diptera, mosquitoes go through 4 phases of development: eggs, larvae, pupae and adults. Until the stage of an adult insect, they live in water. During this period, eggs, larvae and pupae are also eaten by aquatic animals.

Adult mosquitoes are excellent food for insectivorous birds and predatory insects. For example, for dragonflies. But the mosquito is not a harmless insect either. In other periods, when there are too many of them, they are able to attack a living being with a huge cloud.

The nutrition of adult insects has a dual nature: males feed on nectar and plant sap, and females drink the blood of vertebrates. Mosquitoes spend summer in human dwellings, damp and shaded areas of nature, in rooms where animals are kept. In winter, insects fall into a stupor, when the air temperature is below 0, or live in warm structures in a state of low activity.

Imagoes not only cause anxiety to a person during a night's sleep or outdoor recreation, but they can carry a certain danger. They are especially dangerous for allergy sufferers, and certain types of them are carriers of serious diseases and pose a threat to humans. The fight against these insects is of great importance. Mosquitoes are destroyed with the help of special devices, poisonous odors, ultrasound and other means. It is especially necessary to take precautions in years when the summer is full of rains, since then mosquitoes breed in large numbers.