Life as a Mosquito

ScienceTopping  |  June 10, 2023

Mosquito Life

In the hierarchy system of taxonomy, the class of mosquitoes is insecta.
IMAGE BY GDJ/PIXABAY
With over 8.7 (± 1.3) million species in the heart of the planet, Earth is rich of lives. With the current limited technology and resources, humans are able to identify and document only 2.13 million species to date. Ranging from vertebrae to invertebrae as well as microorganisms that can only be seen under microscope, the blue planet is simply a haven for organisms and microorganisms to survive, fulfilling all the criteria and elements for a species to flourish and expand their population. Since then, countless of diseases and health threats have been discovered when all distinct species coexist and interact with one another in the environment.

There are various modes of transmission of diseases, including air-borne, food-borne, water-borne and vector-borne diseases. Among all, air-borne diseases are the easiest to spread in human populations, being highly infectious. In the meantime, vector-borne diseases are spread by vectors which are the intermediary organism that transmit a disease from one to another. Mosquitoes are the commonest yet deadliest vectors that are responsible for carrying causative agent to infect new uninfected individuals. Mosquitoes are notorious for their infamous itchy bites. If mosquitoes merely feed on humans' blood without causing major health problems, there will not be a variety of safety products countering the existence of mosquitoes. In fact, they are responsible for numerous vector-borne diseases such as malaria, dengue, zika, chikungunya and lymphatic filariasis.

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Mosquitoes are classified into two subfamilies, namely Anophelinae and Culicinae. Anopheles mosquitoes belong to the Anophelinae subfamily, while Aedes, Culex and Mansonia mosquitoes belong to the Culicinae subfamily. Note that the family is Culicidae. There are a few different genera and species such as Aedes aegypti. The hierachy system of mosquitoes is as follows.
Zooming in the life of mosquitoes, adult female mosquitoes lay eggs at stagnant and tranquil water, with the eggs transforming into larvae, pupae and ultimately adult mosquitoes in a matter of just 7 to 10 days. Similar to human lifespan pattern, female mosquitoes also live longer than male mosquitoes. On average, female mosquitoes which feed on blood live for 42 to 56 days, male mosquitoes which feed on plant juices can only survive for 10 days.

The lifestyle of mosquitoes of different species is slightly different from one another. The female adult mosquitoes that feed during the day are Aedes mosquitoes, while Culex, Anopheles and Mansonia mosquitoes prefer to feed at night. Mosquitoes do take a rest or sleep when they are not feeding.

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In the world, there are only two countries that have no mosquitoes at all — Iceland and Antarctica. Mosquitoes have the peak activity level at 26 °C (80 °F). Therefore, due to the dry and windy environment in these two countries, mosquitoes simply can neither survive nor thrive under such extreme temperature. The cold water is definitely not suitable for laying eggs. Iceland and Antarctica must be a sanctuary for those who hate mosquitoes for various reasons, be it the irritating mosquito bite or the catastrophic mosquito disease outbreak.

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