Mosquitoes are insects that come from the Culicidae family. Most people know that mosquitoes cause malaria only but the truth is it causes many diseases. The diseases are; Chikungunya, dengue fever, yellow fever, West Nile fever and the Zika Virus. Below are other things you probably never knew about mosquitoes;
1. Only the female anopheles mosquitoes cause malaria - Not all mosquitoes cause malaria as other people may think. The only mosquito that causes malaria is the infected female anopheles mosquito.
2. Only the female mosquito bite - I didn’t know this all my life because all I knew is that all mosquitoes bite. But the fact is only female bite while the male mosquitoes feed on nectar from flowers.
3. Mosquitoes love co2 so much - They love carbon dioxide because it is a clear indication that a prey is near where it can suck blood. It can sense carbon dioxide from a far distance of around 75 feet.
4. They have no teeth - Some people believe that once a mosquito bites you, it uses its teeth but in the real sense they don’t have teeth. They bite using the long mouth part known as a proboscis.
5. They are of many species - There are 3500 species of mosquitoes that are found around the world that cause different kinds of diseases.
6. They suck blood silently - Mosquitoes while sucking blood they don’t produce any sound. It only produces a buzzing sound once it has sucked blood.
7. They breed in water - Female mosquitoes lay their eggs in water and the eggs are urged into larvae, to pupa and then adult. 8. They don’t live long- the male mosquitoes can only live for ten days while the female can live for six or eight weeks.