The Consuming Mosquito

The Consuming Mosquito

The mosquitoes are a family of small, midge-like flies. Although a few species are harmless or even useful to humanity, most are a nuisance because they consume blood from living vertebrates, including humans. The females of many species of mosquitoes are blood eating pests. In feeding on blood, some of them transmit extremely harmful human and livestock diseases, such as malaria, yellow fever and filariasis. Some authorities argue accordingly that mosquitoes are the most dangerous animals on Earth.
Like all flies, mosquitoes go through four stages in their life cycle: egg, larva, pupa, and adult or imago. In most species, adult females lay their eggs in stagnant water; some lay eggs near the water's edge; others attach their eggs to aquatic plants. Each species selects the situation of the water into which it lays its eggs and does so according to its own ecological adaptations. Some are generalists and are not very fussy. Some breed in lakes, some in temporary puddles. Some breed in marshes, some in salt-marshes. Among those that breed in salt water, some are equally at home in fresh and salt water up to about one third the concentration of seawater, whereas others must acclimatize themselves to the saltiness. Such differences are important because certain ecological preferences keep mosquitoes away from most humans, whereas other preferences bring them right into houses at night.
Dragonfly and damselfly nymphs and various other aquatic insect predators eat mosquitoes at all stages of development and dense populations can be useful in reducing mosquito problems. Various small fishes, such as species of Galaxias and members of the Poeciliidae, such as Gambusia (so-called mosquitofish) and guppies, eat mosquito larvae and sometimes may be worth introducing into ponds to assist in control. Many other types of fish are also known to consume mosquito larvae, including bass,bluegills, piranhas, Arctic char, salmon, trout, catfish, fathead minnows, goldfish, and killifish.

Collect your Mosquito Today!