It is unnecessary to remind that people don’t have any special love for nasty and annoying insects. Who are these annoying creatures? These are friends, females and males of a mosquito. But meanwhile they are quite interesting creatures! Why? Read our article and you'll find out!
Mosquito life
These insects spend their youth in water, and their maturity in air. It all starts with a larva. Females lay very small testicles in one place or another with stagnant water. Then larvae very similar to worms emerge from the eggs. To eat, they need to filter a whole liter of water through themselves in a day! At the same time, the larva breathes through a special tube located on its tail and sticking out above the water. Then it pupates, after which it turns into an adult winged insect (imago). This is a fully formed mosquito. Its tiny body is supported by even more thin, but long legs. A pair of elegant antennae and a long proboscis are visible on the mosquito’s head.
Breeding season
There are years when these insects begin to breed at the speed of light. An incredible number of mosquitoes form a huge flock swirling in the air. Outwardly, it becomes like pillars of smoke. In fact, it is the male mosquitoes form their natural swarm. Their similar behavior indicates the beginning of the mating season. The fact is that males expect their "brides". As a rule, this happens outside the city. Any female mosquito is aware of current events and flies to mate with a male.
Which of them is a bloodsucker?
Each of us felt on ourselves how these insects bite. Interestingly, only females do this. Male mosquitoes have nothing to do with bloodletting. They are vegetarians, and find their pleasure in flower nectars. If the females during the breeding period can not stock up with the right amount of blood, then they will reproduce only a small clutch of testicles. Their offspring will be very small.
By the way, not all mosquitoes are bloodthirsty creatures. Today around the world there are only about 120 species of bloodsuckers, among them - a malaria mosquito. It is very similar to another species - squeaks that are safe for humans. How to distinguish them - we will tell further.
Learning to distinguish dangerous from safe
Mosquito squeak
This is the most common Russian mosquito. He was so called for his piercing sound, annoying everyone and everything. Such "singing" males of a squeak mosquito reproduce with the help of two different "instruments". Low frequencies arise due to the vibration of their wings, and high squeaky “melodies” are due to special drums located next to the openings of the respiratory tubes.
Malaria mosquito
This type of bloodsucker got a very bad reputation. He is very similar to a squeak, but differs from him in his "dark" mission. Malaria mosquitoes are carriers of a dangerous disease - malaria (popularly referred to as fever). Their larvae (as well as squeak) live only in stagnant waters. Adult adult insect lives on different plants.
Attention! The main difference between squeaks and malarians lies in their landing: the former are located on some support directly, and the latter are at an angle to the surface, that is, they lift up their back.
