Editing Mosquito (section)

== Description and life cycle ==

[[File:Mosquito Life-Cycle.svg|frameless|right|upright=1.2]]

Like all flies, mosquitoes go through four stages in their life cycles: [[egg (biology)|egg]], [[larva]], [[pupa]], and [[imago|adult]]. The first three stages—egg, larva, and pupa—are largely aquatic,<ref>{{cite web |title=FAQs |publisher=[[American Mosquito Control Association|AMCA]] |url=https://www.mosquito.org/page/faq |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190716212718/https://www.mosquito.org/page/FAQ |archive-date=2019-07-16 }}</ref> the eggs usually being laid in stagnant water.<ref name="Wigglesworth 1933">{{cite journal |last=Wigglesworth |first=Vincent B. |author-link=Vincent Wigglesworth |year=1933 |journal=Journal of Experimental Biology |volume=10 |pages=27–36 |title=The Adaptation of Mosquito Larvae to Salt Water |url=http://jeb.biologists.org/content/10/1/27 |issue=1 |doi=10.1242/jeb.10.1.27 |doi-access=free |bibcode=1933JExpB..10...27W |access-date=2013-04-01 |archive-date=2014-06-24 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20140624025943/http://jeb.biologists.org/content/10/1/27 |url-status=live}}</ref> They hatch to become [[larva]]e, which feed, grow, and molt until they change into [[pupa]]e. The adult mosquito emerges from the mature pupa as it floats at the water surface. Mosquitoes have adult lifespans ranging from as short as a week to around a month. Some species overwinter as adults in [[diapause]].<ref>Kosova, Jonida (2003) [http://digitalcommons.unf.edu/ojii_volumes/94 "Longevity Studies of Sindbis Virus Infected ''Aedes Albopictus''"] {{Webarchive |url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120425162236/http://digitalcommons.unf.edu/ojii_volumes/94/ |date=2012-04-25 }}. All Volumes (2001–2008). Paper 94.</ref>

=== Adult ===

Mosquitoes have one pair of wings, with distinct scales on the surface. Their wings are long and narrow, while the legs are long and thin. The body, usually grey or black, is slender, and typically 3–6&nbsp;mm long. When at rest, mosquitoes hold their first pair of legs outwards, whereas the somewhat similar [[Chironomidae|Chironomid]] midges hold these legs forwards.<ref>{{Cite web |url=https://nature.mdc.mo.gov/discover-nature/field-guide/midges |title=Midges |website=MDC Discover Nature |access-date=2019-11-19 |archive-date=2019-10-26 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20191026055541/https://nature.mdc.mo.gov/discover-nature/field-guide/midges |url-status=live}}</ref> ''[[Anopheles]]'' mosquitoes can fly for up to four hours continuously at {{cvt|1|to|2|km/h}},<ref>{{cite journal |last1=Kaufmann |first1=C. |last2=Briegel |first2=H. |title=Flight performance of the malaria vectors Anopheles gambiae and Anopheles atroparvus |journal=Journal of Vector Ecology |volume=29 |issue=1 |pages=140–153 |date=June 2004 |pmid=15266751 |url=http://www.sove.org/Journal%20PDF/June%202004/Kaufmann.pdf |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110728043927/http://www.sove.org/Journal%20PDF/June%202004/Kaufmann.pdf |archive-date=2011-07-28 }}</ref> traveling up to {{cvt|12|km}} in a night. Males beat their wings between 450 and 600 times per second, [[Indirect flight|driven indirectly]] by muscles which vibrate the thorax.<ref>{{cite web |first=Diana |last=Leung |url=https://hypertextbook.com/facts/2000/DianaLeung.shtml |title=Frequency of mosquito wings |year=2000 |website=The Physics Factbook |editor-last=Elert |editor-first=Glenn |accessdate=2022-01-24 |archive-date=2022-01-25 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20220125000341/https://hypertextbook.com/facts/2000/DianaLeung.shtml |url-status=live}}</ref><ref>{{cite journal |last=Smith |first=David S. |title=Flight muscles of insects |journal=[[Scientific American]] |volume=212 |pages=76–88 |year=1965 |issue=6 |doi=10.1038/scientificamerican0665-76 |pmid=14327957 |bibcode=1965SciAm.212f..76S }}</ref> Mosquitoes are mainly small flies; the largest are in the genus ''[[Toxorhynchites]]'', at up to {{cvt|18|mm}} in length and {{cvt|24|mm}} in wingspan.<ref name="Cook 2009">{{cite book |author1=Cook, G.C. |author2=Zumla, A |year=2009 |title=Manson's Tropical Diseases |publisher=Saunders Elsevier |page=1735 |edition=22 |isbn=978-1-4160-4470-3}}</ref> Those in the genus ''[[Aedes]]'' are much smaller, with a wingspan of {{cvt|2.8|to|4.4|mm}}.<ref name="UF/IFAS A. gambiae">{{cite web |title=African malaria mosquito |url=https://entnemdept.ufl.edu/creatures/aquatic/Anopheles_gambiae.htm |publisher=[[University of Florida]] |access-date=11 February 2024}}</ref>

Mosquitoes can develop from egg to adult in hot weather in as few as five days, but it may take up to a month.<ref name="EPA life cycle"/> At dawn or dusk, within days of pupating, males assemble in [[swarm]]s, mating when females fly in.<ref name="CDC Anopheles"/><!-- Males live for about 5–7 days. --> The female mates only once in her lifetime, attracted by the pheromones emitted by the male.<ref>{{cite web |url=https://www.timeshighereducation.com/hub/university-witwatersrand/p/male-mosquito-odours-reveal-how-mozzies-mate |title=Male mosquito odours reveal how mozzies mate |publisher=[[University of the Witwatersrand]] |date=5 August 2020 |access-date=25 January 2024 |archive-date=25 January 2024 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20240125141528/https://www.timeshighereducation.com/hub/university-witwatersrand/p/male-mosquito-odours-reveal-how-mozzies-mate |url-status=live }}</ref><ref>{{cite journal |last1=Mozūraitis |first1=R. |last2=Hajkazemian |first2=M. |last3=Zawada |first3=J.W. |display-authors=etal |title=Male swarming aggregation pheromones increase female attraction and mating success among multiple African malaria vector mosquito species |journal=Nature Ecology & Evolution |volume=4 |issue=10 |pages=1395–1401 |date=3 August 2020 |doi=10.1038/s41559-020-1264-9 |pmid=32747772|bibcode=2020NatEE...4.1395M |s2cid=220948478 |url=https://ora.ox.ac.uk/objects/uuid:e28af752-35bf-4ed0-b0c6-7d612b3e44e3 }}</ref> As a species that need blood for the eggs to develop, the female finds a host and drinks a full meal of blood. She then rests for two or three days to digest the meal and allow her eggs to develop. She is then ready to lay the eggs and repeat the cycle of feeding and laying.<ref name="CDC Anopheles"/> Females can live for up to three weeks in the wild, depending on temperature, humidity, their ability to obtain a blood meal, and avoiding being killed by their vertebrate hosts.<ref name="CDC Anopheles"/><ref name="Peach-Gries-2020"/>

<gallery class=center mode="nolines" heights="450" widths="300">
File:Culex pipiens diagram en.svg|Anatomy of an adult female mosquito
File:Aedes aegypti E-A-Goeldi 1905.jpg|Adult yellow fever mosquito ''[[Aedes aegypti]]'', typical of subfamily [[Culicinae]]. Male (left) has bushy antennae and longer [[Insect mouthparts|palps]] than female (right)
</gallery>

=== Eggs ===

The eggs of most mosquitoes are laid in stagnant water, which may be a pond, a marsh, a temporary puddle, a water-filled hole in a tree, or the water-trapping leaf axils of a [[Bromeliaceae|bromeliad]]. Some lay near the water's edge while others attach their eggs to aquatic plants. A few, like ''[[Opifex fuscus]]'', can breed in salt-marshes.<ref name="Wigglesworth 1933"/> ''[[Wyeomyia smithii]]'' breeds in the pitchers of [[pitcher plant]]s, its larvae feeding on decaying insects that have drowned there.<ref>Crans, Wayne J.; [http://www.rci.rutgers.edu/~insects/sp27.htm ''Wyeomyia smithii'' (Coquillett)] {{webarchive |url=https://web.archive.org/web/20130605173233/http://www.rci.rutgers.edu/~insects/sp27.htm |date=2013-06-05 }}. Rutgers University, Center for Vector Biology.</ref>

[[Oviposition]], egg-laying, varies between species. ''[[Anopheles]]'' females fly over the water, touching down or [[dapping]] to place eggs on the surface one at a time; their eggs are roughly cigar-shaped and have floats down their sides. A female can lay 100–200 eggs in her lifetime.<ref name="CDC Anopheles">{{cite web |title=Anopheles Mosquitoes |publisher=[[Centers for Disease Control and Prevention]] |url=https://www.cdc.gov/malaria/about/biology/mosquitoes/ |access-date=December 13, 2023 |date=July 16, 2020 |archive-date=18 May 2012 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120518210447/http://www.cdc.gov/malaria/about/biology/mosquitoes/ |url-status=live }}</ref> ''Aedes'' females drop their eggs singly, on damp mud or other surfaces near water; their eggs hatch only when they are flooded.<ref name="Huang Walker Vulule Miller 2006"/> Females in genera such as ''Culex'', ''[[Culiseta]]'', and ''[[Uranotaenia]]'' lay their eggs in floating rafts.<ref>{{cite book |last1=Gullan |first1=P. J. |last2=Cranston |first2=P. S. |title=The Insects: An Outline of Entomology |publisher=[[Wiley-Blackwell]] |location=Oxford |year=2014 |edition=5th |isbn=978-1-118-84616-2 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=lF5hBAAAQBAJ |page=280 |access-date=14 December 2023 |archive-date=11 December 2023 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20231211165406/https://books.google.com/books?id=lF5hBAAAQBAJ |url-status=live }}</ref><ref name="Spielman, D'Antonio">{{cite book |last1=Spielman |first1=Andrew |last2=D'Antonio |first2=M. |chapter=Part One: Magnificent Enemy |title=Mosquito: a natural history of our most persistent and deadly foe |publisher=[[Hyperion (publisher)|Hyperion]] |location=New York |year=2001 |isbn=978-0-7868-6781-3 |url=https://archive.org/details/mosquitonaturalh00spie }}</ref> ''[[Mansonia (fly)|Mansonia]]'' females in contrast lay their eggs in arrays, attached usually to the under-surfaces of waterlily pads.<ref name="Amorim Sa Rojas Santos Neto 2022 pp. 631–637">{{cite journal |last1=Amorim |first1=J. A. |last2=Sa |first2=I. L. R. |last3=Rojas |first3=M. V. R. |last4=Santos Neto |first4=N. F. |last5=Galardo |first5=A. K. R. |last6=Carvalho |first6=D. P. |last7=Ribeiro |first7=K. A. N. |last8=Sallum |first8=M. A. M. |display-authors=5 |title=Aquatic Macrophytes Hosting Immature Mansonia (Mansonia) Blanchard, 1901 (Diptera, Culicidae) in Porto Velho, Rondonia State, Brazil |journal=Journal of Medical Entomology |volume=59 |issue=2 |date=2022-03-16 |doi=10.1093/jme/tjab223 |pages=631–637|pmid=35043213 }}</ref>

Clutches of eggs of most mosquito species hatch simultaneously, but ''Aedes'' eggs in diapause hatch irregularly over an extended period.<ref name="Huang Walker Vulule Miller 2006">{{cite journal |last1=Huang |first1=Juan |last2=Walker |first2=Edward D |last3=Vulule |first3=John |last4=Miller |first4=James R. |title=Daily temperature profiles in and around Western Kenyan larval habitats of Anopheles gambiae as related to egg mortality |journal=Malaria Journal |volume=5 |issue=1 |date=2006 |page=87 |pmid=17038186 |pmc=1617108 |doi=10.1186/1475-2875-5-87 |doi-access=free }}</ref>

<gallery mode="packed">
File:Anopheles_egg_2_(cropped).jpg|''[[Anopheles]]'' eggs with side floats
File:Mosquito egg SEM.jpg|[[Scanning electron microscope|Electron micrograph]] of a culicine egg
File:Gelege1 (cropped).jpg|''Culex'' egg raft
</gallery>

=== Larva ===

The mosquito larva's head has prominent mouth brushes used for feeding, a large [[Thorax (insect anatomy)|thorax]] with no legs, and a segmented [[Abdomen#Arthropoda|abdomen]]. It breathes air through a siphon on its abdomen, so must come to the surface frequently. It spends most of its time feeding on [[algae]], bacteria, and other microbes in the water's surface layer. It dives below the surface when disturbed. It swims either by propelling itself with its mouth brushes, or by jerkily wriggling its body. It develops through several stages, or [[instar]]s, molting each time, after which it [[metamorphosis|metamorphoses]] into a [[pupa]].<ref name="EPA life cycle">{{cite web |title=Mosquito Life Cycle |date=21 February 2013 |url=https://www.epa.gov/mosquitocontrol/mosquito-life-cycle |publisher=[[Environmental Protection Agency]] |access-date=12 December 2023 |archive-date=19 December 2020 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20201219184319/https://www.epa.gov/mosquitocontrol/mosquito-life-cycle |url-status=live }}</ref> ''Aedes'' larvae, except when very young, can withstand drying; they go into [[diapause]] for several months if their pond dries out.<ref name="Huang Walker Vulule Miller 2006"/>

<gallery class="center" mode="nolines" heights=200 widths=200>
File:AnophelesLarvaPhoto CDCHarryWeinburgh publicdomain.jpg|''[[Anopheles]]'' larva
File:Culex restuans larva diagram en.svg|Anatomy of a ''[[Culex]]'' larva
File:Culex sp larvae.png|''Culex'' larvae plus one pupa
</gallery>

=== Pupa ===

The head and thorax of the [[pupa]] are merged into a [[cephalothorax]], with the abdomen curving around beneath it. The pupa or "tumbler" can swim actively by flipping its abdomen. Like the larva, the pupa of most species must come to the surface frequently to breathe, which they do through a pair of respiratory trumpets on their cephalothoraxes. They do not feed; they pass much of their time hanging from the surface of the water by their respiratory trumpets. If alarmed, they swim downwards by flipping their abdomens in much the same way as the larvae. If undisturbed, they soon float up again. The adult emerges from the pupa at the surface of the water and flies off.<ref name="EPA life cycle"/>

<gallery class="center" mode="nolines" heights=200 widths=400>
File:Underwater view of mosquito pupae in standing water.jpg|Mosquito pupae, shortly before the adults emerged. The head and thorax are fused into the cephalothorax.
</gallery>