Where Do Blood-Sucking Mosquitoes Come From, How Long Do They Live, What Are They Afraid Of, and Which Blood Type Attracts Them Most

Mosquitoes are a common type of blood-sucking insect after the Start of Autumn, and are disliked because they like to feed on human blood and plant sap. So how do mosquitoes come to be? How long do they live? What are they afraid of? Which blood type attracts mosquitoes the most?

How do they come to be?

A mosquito's life goes through four stages: egg, larva, pupa and adult. They like to lay their eggs in clear water, such as small rivers, rainwater puddles, ponds, pools, rice paddies and mountain streams. In warm seasons, the eggs hatch into wrigglers in about three days and begin to feed on the extremely small microorganisms and protozoa growing in the water. After molting several times, the wriggler finally stops eating and becomes less active, turning into a pupa. After about two or three days, the pupa comes to the water surface, sheds its skin and emerges as an adult, becoming the most annoying mosquito of all.

The specific growth process:

1. Mosquito eggs: Eggs are the beginning of a mosquito's growth. The eggs of Anopheles and Culex mosquitoes hatch in about two days, while those of Aedes mosquitoes hatch in three to five days. Each female mosquito lays a total of about 1000 to 3000 eggs in her lifetime.

2. Larva: The mosquito larva breathes through a siphon and feeds on organic matter and microorganisms. The bristles around its mouth create a current that flows toward its mouth. This stage lasts about 10 to 14 days, and after four molts it becomes a pupa.

3. Mosquito pupa: Seen from the side, the mosquito pupa is shaped like a bean. It does not feed, but it can move through the water and breathes through its first pair of respiratory trumpets. After two days it is fully mature, sheds its skin and emerges as an adult.

4. Adult: A newly emerged mosquito cannot fly before it has fully emerged. Male mosquitoes complete the mating posture within 24 hours of emerging, and mating usually takes 10 to 25 seconds. A female mosquito mates only once in her life, and the eggs she lays afterward can still be fertilized.

How long do they live?

Under natural conditions, male mosquitoes die about 7-10 days after mating, while female mosquitoes generally live 1 to 2 months.

What are they afraid of?

Plants:

1. Garlic: Garlic gives off a pungent odor and is also very effective at repelling mosquitoes. After eating garlic, people secrete a certain smell, and mosquitoes stay far away - an unexpected bonus for friends who love garlic. You can also slice garlic and place it on windowsills or smear it on window screens to keep mosquitoes from entering the room.

2. Orange peel: After eating an orange, put the peel on the windowsill or balcony to dry in the sun. At night, light the orange peel; the smell given off as it burns is quite good at repelling mosquitoes. And orange peel smells pretty nice too!

3. Night-blooming jasmine (Cestrum nocturnum): Night-blooming jasmine is a good mosquito-repelling plant. Grow a few pots at home, or plant some in the yard - in summer it can both repel mosquitoes and add to the scenery!

4. Lavender: Lavender is an effective mosquito repellent, and it can also kill mosquito larvae, so growing a few plants of lavender at home in summer is also a good choice!

5. Lotus family plants: A new study published in the Asian Pacific Journal of Tropical Medicine found that lotus and other plants of the lotus family are an effective mosquito repellent and can also kill mosquito larvae. So in summer, you might as well grow some small lotus family plants at home.

6. Catnip (also called camphor grass): Research from Ohio State University in the United States found that catnip makes mosquitoes “afraid”, and the mosquito-repelling effect of its essential oil is 10 times that of mosquito repellent spray.

7. Black pepper: Research has also found that black pepper has a clear mosquito-repelling effect. You can usually sprinkle it on windowsills, doorways or the edges of flower pots to prevent mosquitoes from breeding and invading.

Animals:

1. In water: fish, tadpoles, and water tigers (dragonfly larvae).

2. On land: frogs, toads and other amphibians, geckos, lizards and other reptiles, spiders and other arthropods.

3. In the sky: bats, dragonflies, and small insect-eating birds (such as swallows, sparrows, etc.).

Chemical products:

1. Insecticide: Insecticide is the most direct and also the most effective way, killing mosquitoes directly. But friends who have used insecticide surely do not like its smell, and people even feel a bit dizzy when they smell it, so it is not an environmentally friendly method. After use, be sure to ventilate the house and be careful of poisoning.

2. Mosquito coils: Mosquito coils come in discs and can burn for a whole night - the editor has used them before. Disc mosquito coils are very effective and fairly cheap. But some friends also dislike the smell of mosquito coils. When sleeping, pay attention to ventilating the room; I think mosquito coils still have some harmful effects.

3. Fengyoujing (essential balm): Many friends have used fengyoujing or cooling oil. It feels cool when applied, but it actually has another function - repelling mosquitoes. The smell given off by fengyoujing is quite good at repelling mosquitoes! Place two or three opened boxes of fengyoujing by the bed, in the bathroom and under the sofa; mosquitoes are deterred by the smell and flee without being driven away.

5. Smoke: When I was little and the family was cooling off outside, we would tie straw stalks into very thick braids, then light them at the windward side of the yard. As the thick black smoke blew over with the wind, the mosquitoes were already dizzy from the fumes - how would they have time to bite anyone!

Which blood type attracts mosquitoes the most?

1. Type O blood: The unfortunate type O blood is the favorite of all mosquitoes. Have you not noticed that when a group of people sits together, it is this blood type that gets bitten desperately? The most absurd thing is that even after applying mosquito repellent and lighting mosquito coils, it still does not help much - mosquitoes even go for the eyelids and lips, leading to the tragedy of a “disfigured” face the next morning.

2. Type A blood: For this blood type, mosquito coils can be relied on to stop the fierce attacks of mosquitoes. Compared with type O blood, it is relatively safer, but applying mosquito repellent still does not help much, and mosquitoes will still come to bite.

3. Type AB blood: Mosquitoes still have a bit of affection for this blood type. Especially after exercise, mosquitoes particularly like to fly over and bite you a few times - that taste, a bloody sweat horse!

4. Rh-negative blood: This is the panda blood type among all blood types. Only a dozen or so people out of more than a hundred thousand have this blood type - extremely rare. Mosquitoes are not very drawn to this blood type and will not chase and attack it as relentlessly as the blood types above.

What kind of people do they like to bite?

1. Mosquitoes like people with developed sweat glands and high body temperature: People who sweat easily have increased acidity in their blood, and the sweat they excrete raises the lactic acid level on the skin surface, making them attractive to mosquitoes. In addition, there is a heat receptor in a mosquito's antennae that is very sensitive to temperature; it can detect even a slight change in temperature immediately. People who sweat dissipate body heat quickly, which also makes them attractive to mosquitoes.

2. Mosquitoes like people who are tired or breathe at a faster rate: Mosquitoes find their prey by smell. Carbon dioxide has a strong attraction for mosquitoes. A mosquito's small palps have carbon dioxide receptors that can sense carbon dioxide, lactic acid and other substances. A mosquito can detect the carbon dioxide released in a person's breath from 15 meters away. After sports or physical labor, a person's breathing speeds up, and at this time they exhale relatively more carbon dioxide. The carbon dioxide gas forms a moist, warm air current about 1 meter above the head, and mosquitoes are quite sensitive to this and come following the smell. By the same reasoning, people with a large lung capacity or a faster breathing rhythm also exhale more carbon dioxide, and mosquitoes gather and come once they smell it.

3. Mosquitoes like people who wear dark clothes: Black is the first choice of attack for mosquitoes. For example, Aedes mosquitoes (also called flower mosquitoes) most like to land on black clothes. Next are blue, red, green, etc.; mosquitoes do not like to bite people wearing white clothes. Similarly, mosquitoes love to bite people with darker or reddish skin.

4. Mosquitoes like people with a fast metabolism: Generally speaking, men attract mosquitoes more than women, young people more than the elderly, and healthy people more than sick people, because there are more secretions on the skin surface. When women are menstruating, their secretions change, and they also attract mosquitoes more. Mosquitoes have a “food-seeking nature”. This is not, as people imagine, that certain people have delicate skin or sweet blood that attracts mosquitoes; the main reason is that certain odors on their bodies attract mosquitoes.

5. Mosquitoes like pregnant women: Pregnant women are especially prone to attracting mosquitoes. A medical study in the United States showed that pregnant women are particularly attractive to mosquitoes; their chance of being bitten by mosquitoes is twice that of other women.

Why do they suck human blood?

Actually, only female mosquitoes suck blood; males do not, because a female mosquito must suck blood for her ovaries to develop and for her to reproduce. Female mosquitoes mostly begin sucking blood 2 to 3 days after emerging. Various factors such as temperature, humidity and light can affect a mosquito's blood-sucking activity, and they usually begin sucking blood when the temperature is above 10°C. But Aedes mosquitoes mostly suck blood during the day, while Anopheles and Culex mosquitoes mostly suck blood at night. Some prefer human blood, while some mosquitoes prefer to suck the blood of livestock, with no strict selectivity. Therefore, mosquitoes can transmit zoonotic diseases.