Mosquito Identification & Prevention

What Are Mosquitoes?

Mosquitoes are biting flies. The females require blood meals from warm-blood animals to complete their life cycle. They are prolific breeders and have the potential to ruin any outdoor activity.

These winged insects have a narrow, oval body, six thin legs, and a long thin nose called a proboscis. The proboscis allows males and females to feed on plant nectar and the females to pierce the skin of their warm-blooded hosts and feed on their blood.

Though mosquitoes can fly some distance while searching for food and breeding sites, they are not strong fliers and can easily be blown off course by a slight breeze.

Are Mosquitoes Dangerous?

During the quest for blood meals, the female mosquito can come into contact and become infected with many different diseases that it can then transmit to people through mosquito bites. Though not every mosquito is infected with a disease, some are, which is why limiting your contact with these pests is important. Diseases mosquitoes spread include encephalitis, the West Nile virus, malaria, and Zika.

In addition, when mosquitoes bite us, they leave behind a red itchy rash. When you scratch at mosquito bites, it can introduce bacteria into your body and cause an infection.

Why Do I Have a Mosquito Problem?

Mosquitoes are such a problem in our yards because they provide a place to rest, feed, and breed. In addition:

• Our family and pets provide them with blood meals.
• Our gardens and yards provide them with daytime resting spots and access to nectar.
• Clogged gutters, containers, and the tops of trashcans lids collect rainwater and provide breeding sites.

Mosquitoes are prolific breeders, and populations can grow very quickly. Each female can lay 100-200 eggs at a time, and it only takes around eight to ten days for the eggs to develop into new biting adults.

Where Will I Find Mosquitoes?

Mosquitoes are found wherever there are sources of standing water, shady areas to protect them from the hot sun, and lots of vegetation to rest on. Wooded areas, grassy fields, marshes, ponds, athletic fields, and our backyards are all places mosquitoes thrive.

You will find that mosquitoes are most active at dusk and dawn; during the middle of the day, they like to rest to escape the heat and direct sunlight.