With the reports of Zika virus, your mind might be thinking more about mosquitoes than normal. Every time you step outside, you are sharing the same airspace with hundreds of nearby mosquitoes. Unfortunately if there are mosquitoes, it means that there are diseases as well. Illness and mosquitoes are not new; mosquitoes transmit more harmful bacteria and viruses than any other insect. If you have ever wondered how they reproduce, Green Pest Services is about to provide you with everything you didn’t want to know about mosquitoes.

One Part Blood

It all starts with a bite. Female mosquitoes are on a mission to produce eggs. They need protein and iron and what better place to find it than in your blood. That is why she comes after you, she wants your blood. Male mosquitoes on the other hand, do not bite. Instead, they eat the nectar from flowers. Female mosquitoes are designed to find you. First off, when you exhale, you breathe out carbon dioxide. Mosquitoes are sensitive to carbon dioxide, it attracts them. They also are receptive to heat. As they fly around you, they can sense the heat from your body. Lastly, they can always use their eyes. Because mosquitoes use three different methods to find you, that is why you can still get bit even when you are using repellents or citronella candles.

Two Parts Nasty

Once you get bit, the mosquito has done her job. Now she needs to find a place to lay her eggs. Mosquitoes are quite resilient. All they need is some water; the more stagnant and still, the better. Some species are adapted to salty water found in tide pools. Others can use the brackish water found in swamps and marshes. If you left a bucket of water in your back yard and it got a pool of rain inside, mosquitoes can use that too. In fact, mosquitoes can even thrive in polluted water. The reason they do so well in so many different types of water is due to their biology. Mosquito larvae come equipped with a breathing tube. They are able to swim around their watery habitat eating bacteria, detritus and organic material until they are ready to become adult and then the entire process begins again.

The nastiest thing about mosquitoes is the diseases they carry. The Zika Virus is just one of the newest illnesses. Malaria, West Nile Virus, Dengue fever, and Yellow \fever are just a few of the nasty sicknesses spread from mosquitoes.

Green Pest Services

There are a lot of things you can do as well. One of the first is to eliminate standing water. Make certain that buckets, containers, and lids are removed from your yard. Remember, if water can stay and pool in a spot in your yard for five day in a row, you have a potential mosquito breeding site. This will help reduce mosquitoes, but we can help you eliminate them. If you are having a backyard barbeque, wedding, or family reunion and you do not want to worry about mosquitoes Green Pest Services has the expertise and technology to eliminate mosquitoes around your home.