We hate mosquitoes! If you feel the same way, we welcome you to our site where we fully explore every aspect of this horrible insect that has been plaguing this world for millions of years.
We will show you how to identify where mosquitoes are breeding, how to reduce the pain that they cause in their “vampirish” bites, how to eliminate them as best we can, and so much more.
While other sites may help you to understand these blood suckers in a scientific sense (actually, we do that too), our goal is to simply help you kill as many of them as possible. Without a doubt, we hate mosquitoes and we are more than happy to share the information that you need to get rid of as many of them as possible!
With that goal in mind (kill mosquitoes!), let’s briefly explore some of the information that you will learn inside (after watching this awesome video!):
What Are Mosquitoes?
Scientists will tell you that they come from the family Culicidae. Their name comes from the Spanish words for “little fly”. There are actually thousands of species of these little blood suckers around the world.
And “blood suckers” is exactly what they are. Most of the female species live off of the blood of other animals by inserting what is basically a tube needle (scientists call it a “proboscis”) into their prey’s skin, and sucking the blood right out of them!
These evil critters will suck the blood out of just about anything that they can get a hold of. They attack almost every land animal, and even some invertebrates. Some species will even attack fish! If they can get their “needle” into an animal’s flesh, they will suck their blood.
Are Mosquitoes Dangerous?
Yes, of course they are dangerous! That’s the main reason that we hate them so much!
We’ll get to the danger factor soon enough, but in addition they cause a huge amount of pain and aggravation. Have you ever tried to sleep outdoors in a mosquito infested landscape? It’s just about impossible! The reason that their bite makes you go crazy from the itching is that their spit (saliva) creates an irritating rash. Not only does this rash itch, but they tend to attack by the dozens/hundreds. Try sleeping with hundreds o painful rashes- good luck!
On to the danger factor. These flying devils help to transport a slew of diseases to their innocent victims. They carry so many diseases that they are actually known as the deadliest animals in the world. No other animal family is responsible for killing nearly as many people as mosquitoes! They are responsible for spreading diseases such as yellow fever, malaria, the west nile virus, dengue fever, and many more. Sounds fun, right?
What’s The Life Cycle Of A Mosquito?
Mosquitoes are a type of fly, so they have four different phases of their life cycle just like flies do. The stages are egg, larva, pupa and adult. The first three stages (egg, larva and pupa) occur in the water. Only the adult stage is outside of the water. Each of these early stages will last from five to fifteen days, depending upon the species.
For most species, the first life cycle occurs when an adult female lays her eggs in stagnant water. Some species will lay the eggs in fresh water, while others can lay eggs in saltwater or brackish water. The lay their eggs in lakes, ponds, tree trunks filled with water, or any container that holds water. They can lay anywhere from one hundred to two hundred eggs during their life. Regardless of the species, they all require water for the first stages.
During the larva stage they have a developed head and the beginnings of many of their adult parts. The larva primarily live on the top of the water where they feed on algae and bacteria. As the larva grows it will molt. This is where they love their skin to give them room to grow larger.
The pupa is the stage of transformation for the baby mosquito. During this stage they primarily just wait. They do not usually eat, and they will eventually open up to reveal the adult mosquito (devil) that emerges.
Of course the adult stage is the one that we all hate. This is where they fly around, look for us, suck on our blood, and then lay a bunch of eggs for their children to repeat the whole process!
This video does a great job of explaining the life cycle:
How Can I Kill Mosquitoes?
We have covered this topic much more thoroughly throughout the site, but let’s go over a few basic concepts.
First of all, everyone can do their part by getting rid of the grounds that breed mosquitoes- stagnant water! If you check around your property, I bet there are a ton of spots that are holding standing water when it rains. Some of the most common places with stagnant are wheelbarrows, plant pots, low spots on the ground, fire pits, rotten trees, etc. You get the idea. Anywhere that you can find where water can sit for a few days needs to be taken care of. I you deny them a place to lay their eggs near your home, they can not breed there!
On the city/government level, many major towns in the United States (and elsewhere) have mosquito abatement programs. You may have noticed trucks driving around town during the Summer that are spraying a mist in the air? That mist is actually a chemical that is being used to control the mosquito population.
While repellents won’t kill them, they do help to keep many blood suckers from biting you. Most of them contain a chemical called DEET, and many of these repellents can help to slow down the bites for four hours or more. Likewise, window screens and bug zappers can help to keep them out of your home.
How Do I Treat Mosquito Bites?
Again, we have several articles on our site that go into this at great length, but we can still cover the basics here.
If you can actually see redness and swelling from a bite, that means that your body is having an immune response reaction from the mosquito’s saliva (gross, right?). Some of these swelling and itching bite marks happen immediately, while others are from a delayed immune response. The immediate reactions happen within minutes and can last for several hours. The delayed response usually happens by the next day, and this reaction can last for a week or more!
In short, there are several medications that you can take to relieve the itching. Benadryl is probably the most common oral medication that you can take to deal with the itching. There are also several antihistamines that you can apply to the effected area. In extreme cases, there are some medications such as hydrocortisone that can be used.
What Do We Do Now?
If you are ready to join the fight to kill every mosquito that you can, we encourage you to use the search feature here to find some really useful information. We have dozens of articles that will help you deal with mosquito bites, repellents, eliminating breeding grounds, and tons more.
We hope that you enjoy your visit here, and we really hope that you get out there and kill some mosquitoes today!