The deadliest insect in the world is surprisingly the common mosquito, which also happens to be the deadliest critter in the entire animal kingdom. We know they are annoying, and make us itch, and are all around down right a nuisance, but deadliest insect? Yes, mosquitoes are responsible for more human deaths than any other insect. They kill more than 700,000 people every year. They transmit diseases like malaria, dengue fever and Zika virus by feeding on human blood. It is important to use Owasso Pest Control to help protect your and your family from these deadly pests.
Mosquitoes have this special organ, the maxillary palp, which detects CO2 released from our breath and guides them to us, where they consume three times their own weight in blood. Mosquitoes are known to prefer beer drinkers, probably because drinking beer increases the ethanol content in your sweat. Ethanol turns mosquitoes on. Plus, all alcohol increases your body temperature, which makes you easier for a mosquito to find. People of greater body mass attract more bugs for the same reason. Mosquitoes also prefer people with O type blood. Use Owasso Pest Control to help protect your and your family from these deadly pests.
Adult mosquitoes have slender elongated bodies that are covered with scales, as are the veins of the wings. Mosquitoes are also recognized by their long fragile looking legs and elongated piercing mouthparts. The feathery antennae of the male are generally bushier than those of a female.The males, and sometimes the females, will feed on nectar and other plant juices and are known pollinators. In most species, however, the females require the proteins obtained from a blood meal in order to mature their eggs. Different species of mosquitoes show preferences and, in many cases, narrow restrictions to host animals. Use Owasso Pest Control to help protect your and your family from these deadly pests.
Mosquito eggs are laid on the surface of water and hatch into aquatic larvae, or wrigglers, which swim with a jerking, wriggling movement. In most species, larvae feed on algae and organic debris, although a few are predatory and may even feed on other mosquitoes. Unlike most insects, mosquitoes in the pupal stage, called tumblers, are active and free-swimming. The pupae breathe by means of tubes on the thorax. The adults mate soon after emerging from their pupal cases. The duration of the life cycle varies densing on the species. Mosquitoes are attracted to host animals by moisture, lactic acid, carbon dioxide, body heat, and movement. The mosquitoes hum results from the high frequency of its wingbeats, and the females wingbeat frequency may serve as a means of sex recognition. Use Owasso Pest Control to help protect your and your family from these deadly pests.
Anopheles mosquitoes are the only known carrier of malaria, also transmitting filariasis and encephalitis. Anopheles mosquitoes are easily recognized from their resting position, in which the proboscis, head, and body are held in a straight line with one another but at an angle to the surface. The spotted coloring on the wings results from colored scales. Egg laying usually occurs in water containing heavy vegetation. The female deposits her eggs singly on the water surface. Anopheles larvae lie parallel to the water surface and breathe through posterior spiracular plates on the abdomen instead of through a tube, as do most other mosquito larvae. The life cycle is from 18 days to several weeks. Use Owasso Pest Control to help protect your and your family from these deadly pests.
The Genus Culex (The Northern House Mosquito) is a carrier of viral encephalitis and, in tropical and subtropical climates, of filariasis. It holds its body parallel to the resting surface and its proboscis is bent downward relative to the surface. The wings, with scales on the veins and the margin, are uniform in color. The tip of the female’s abdomen is blunt and has retracted cerci (sensory appendages). Egg laying may occur on almost any body of freshwater, including standing polluted water. The eggs, which float on the water, are joined in masses of 100 or more. The long and slender Culex larvae have breathing tubes that contain hair tufts. They hang head downward at an angle of 45 degrees from the water surface. The life cycle, usually 10 to 14 days, may be longer in cold weather. The Northern House Mosquito is the most abundant species in northern regions, while the southern house mosquito is abundant in southern regions, namely the tropics and subtropics. Use Owasso Pest Control to help protect your and your family from these deadly pests.
The genus Aedas carries the pathogens that cause yellow fever, dengue, zinga fever, and encephalitis. Like Culex, it holds its body parallel to the resting surface, with the proboscis bent down. The wings are uniformly colored. Aedes may be distinguished from Culex by its silver thorax with white markings and posterior spiracular bristles. The tip of the female’s abdomen is pointed and has protruding cerci. Aedes usually lays eggs in floodwater, rain pools, or salt marshes. The eggs are capable of withstanding long periods of dryness. The short, stout larvae have a breathing tube containing a pair of tufts, and the larvae hang head down at a 45° angle from the water surface. The life cycle may be as short as 10 days or, in cool weather, as long as several months.
Because mosquitoes are such prolific carriers of infectious diseases, preventing them from feeding on humans is considered to be a key health strategy. The likelihood of disease transmission can be reduced through the use of mosquito repellent, long clothing that covers the arms and legs, screens in open doors and windows, and insecticide-treated mosquito bed nets. Mosquito populations can be controlled in part through the elimination of sources of standing water, which provide ideal breeding sites for mosquitoes. A surface film of oil can be applied to standing water to clog the breathing tubes of wrigglers, which may also be killed by larvicides.
