A female and a male mosquito are not at all superfluous in nature. Mosquito - description, photo and video - animal world

Each of us is familiar with mosquitoes. However, few people know what it consists of life cycle such creatures. Let's figure out where the mosquito comes from? What danger does the common mosquito pose to the insect?

General information

The mosquito is a miniature insect, has a pair of transparent wings, six long legs and a proboscis, with the help of which it feeds. The body consists of the cephalothorax, where internal organs. The elongated abdomen serves to concentrate the blood received by the insect from the body of the victim.

The mosquitoes are for real unique creatures. They live all over to the globe. The only exceptions are the Antarctic latitudes, where the life of a mosquito becomes impossible due to too low temperatures surrounding space, lack of conditions for food and reproduction of offspring. In total, researchers have recorded about 3,000 individual species of mosquitoes.

Mosquito feeding

What makes such insects drink the blood of other living beings? It is immediately worth noting that only females are distinguished by their bloodthirstiness in this vast family. And even then this happens only with the onset of the period of active reproduction.

Males are not bloodsuckers. They feed on flower nectar.

Females have a taste for more than just human blood. They do not hesitate to attach themselves to any mammals. It has been proven that these insects often feed on the blood of birds and even reptiles.

As you can see, male and female mosquitoes have differences in terms of food choice. For females, blood is not only a source of precious vital energy. It is also a storehouse of protein, which is an indispensable material for the reproduction of offspring.

According to some people, after drinking blood and laying larvae in the water, the mosquito will certainly die. In reality, this only happens to starving females. Not finding food, they spend their last energy on creating a clutch, exhaust their own body, and then die. On the contrary, a well-fed female mosquito processes the blood of her victims into nutrients, which gives her the opportunity to remain viable for a long time and lay 200-300 eggs every few days.

How do mosquitoes search for prey?

Where does a mosquito come from, or more precisely, how does it manage to find potential victims while located at considerable distances from them? The blood-sucking insect owes this ability to the presence of antennae on the head, which play the role of a specific olfactory organ. More than 7 dozen receptors are concentrated here, which makes it possible to recognize the smell of mammals over kilometer distances. If a female mosquito is located a hundred meters from the intended victim, she can navigate by a trail of carbon dioxide, which occurs when a mammal breathes. In addition, these insects have learned to “see” objects in the infrared spectrum. It is for this reason that mosquitoes find victims in pitch darkness without any problems.

Life cycle

Before turning into a sexually mature adult, the insect goes through several successive stages of development. To begin with, the female mosquito lays her eggs in a humid environment. Most often, standing water is preferred. Soon larvae form here. At this time, a young mosquito cannot be distinguished from a miniature reddish worm. The latter feeds on microorganisms found in water.

Within a week, the mosquito larva transforms into a pupa, which grows special tubes for breathing. atmospheric oxygen. The individual remains in this state until it develops wings. This takes several days. Having become a full-fledged two-winged mosquito, the insect sets off in free flight and immediately begins active search food.

How long does a common mosquito live?

According to scientists, the lifespan of such an insect is primarily affected by temperature conditions.

The cooler it is where mosquitoes live, the longer they last. For example, at an air temperature of +25 degrees, a female can live a little more than 40 days. When the surrounding area cools down to -10 degrees, this period increases to 115 days.

At the same time, the male and female mosquito have different duration life. Males die on average twice as fast. Researchers have not yet been able to determine why this happens. However, if a mosquito has enough nutrients to survive, its lifespan increases significantly.

It will be interesting to learn about these tiny “vampires”:

1. Mosquitoes are one of the oldest insects to ever inhabit the planet. Flying bloodsuckers have existed since the age of dinosaurs.
2. Mosquitoes have six paired legs. Each of them contains a suction cup, which provides the insect with the ability to hold on any surface.
3. The largest mosquito in the world is the centipede. The presented insect can grow up to 6 cm or more. Unlike the bloodsuckers we are familiar with, centipedes produce offspring in wooded areas, leaving clutches in damp moss, where the mosquito comes from.
4. There is a unique variety of so-called “winter” mosquitoes. Representatives of the species are able to be active only at low ambient temperatures - about -5 degrees. In case of warming, such mosquitoes die.
5. Within a second, these insects make up to 500 movements of their wings. The result is the appearance of a characteristic squeak by which we are familiar with such bloodsuckers.
6. There is an opinion that female mosquitoes are more attracted to people who have drank alcohol. This is probably explained by the fact that alcohol causes an increase in body temperature and provokes the active release of carbon dioxide from tissues.
7. A mosquito can drink about 5 mg of blood at a time.

How dangerous are mosquito bites for humans?

When a mosquito bites, it injects an anticoagulant into the victim's tissues, which slows down blood clotting. There are certain categories of people who experience allergic reactions upon contact with this substance. Multiple bites of blood-sucking insects for such persons carry mortal danger. The result is often blood intoxication with an anticoagulant and anaphylactic shock.

Features and habitat of the mosquito

Insect mosquito belongs to the phylum of arthropods, the family of dipterous insects. Its length subtle body ranges from 8 to 130 mm. Color can be gray, brown and yellow. There are green and black varieties.

As seen in mosquito insect photo, its abdomen is elongated, its chest is much wider, and there are two claws at the end of its legs. It has two pairs of scaled, transparent wings.

But for flight, the mosquito uses only the front wings, while the hind wings are halteres, which help maintain balance in the air and create the sound characteristic of this insect.

The mosquito has long antennae and a proboscis, special oral organs: case-like lips and thin needle-like teeth, as well as two pairs of jaws, which are underdeveloped in males.

There are many varieties of mosquitoes. They are distributed throughout the world and inhabit all continents, penetrating and taking root even in unsuitable territories, except Antarctica.

The common mosquito is especially famous, which can be seen in all places where there are people. Mosquitoes are able to survive even in the Arctic, but they are active there only for a few weeks a year, and during this time they breed and multiply to incredible numbers.

Often a person's dislike is caused by insects, mosquito-like. These creatures sometimes look really scary, having long body, which in some cases can reach six centimeters, a frighteningly shaped chest and huge legs.

Fear is also heightened by the fact that many people mistake them for malaria mosquitoes. But it could just be a long-legged mosquito. The insect is completely harmless, is not interested in human blood, but feeds on nectar.

In the photo there is a long-legged mosquito

The nature and lifestyle of mosquitoes

The mosquito is distinguished by great endurance and high mobility, being able to fly a distance of one kilometer without landing. But this is rarely required, only in cases where the insect has to move to another populated area or overcome the length of the reservoir.

This is mainly necessary for female mosquitoes who are looking for a means to drink blood in order to leave offspring. Males, on the other hand, can live their entire lives on a lawn rich in grass and flowers, without having to fly away anywhere.

Individuals that are born at the end of summer, if they are lucky enough to survive, hibernate, while being in a state of torpor. To do this, select suitable premises: storerooms, basements, cattle pens. They wake up when they feel warm.

Even if during a frosty period you bring a mosquito into a room where the heating is on, it can come to life and begin its life activities. But in countries with tropical, humid and warm climate mosquitoes are active throughout the year.

In some cases insect mosquito bites They can even be life-threatening, because they are often carriers of various infections, such as malaria and yellow fever. And if the vaccine is not administered in time, the disease can be fatal. However, in our time, cases of malaria are extremely rare.

Mosquitoes can ruin anything summer holiday in nature. It's hard to describe how these annoying creatures keep you awake at night. insects. Struggle With mosquitoes carried out using a variety of methods.

But unfortunately, not all of them achieve the desired effect. However, there are also effective mosquito repellent. These can be aerosols, plates, sprays, lotions, spirals and bracelets.

Nowadays, pharmacists have developed excellent products from mosquito and insect bites. Ointments help fight symptoms, which often manifest themselves as itching, swelling and inflammation.

Mosquito feeding

Mosquitoes– blood-sucking insects. But only mosquitoes drink the blood of animals and humans. And it is they who attack and annoy warm-blooded animals. Males are rather harmless creatures, and their vital activity is almost invisible to humans.

And they feed on nectar, absorbing it with their proboscis, which, unlike the proboscis of females, does not have a piercing apparatus capable of piercing flesh. They stay away from people and are not at all interested in their bodies.

Everyone knows that mosquito – harmful insect. And not only because it spreads the infection. Swarms of mosquitoes can suck up to a third of a liter of blood per day from the body of a warm-blooded animal.

The main victim of mosquitoes is humans. But the insects themselves and their larvae are a tasty treat for many living creatures. Among them are toads, some types of beetles, spiders, and lizards, as well as salamanders and newts.

Mosquito reproduction and lifespan

The greed of female mosquitoes for the blood of warm-blooded mosquitoes is explained by the instinct of nature caused by the need to lay eggs. At the moment when the mosquito manages to drink blood, it fulfills its mission, dictated by nature.

And he does it closer to the water: near the ponds, quiet rivers, barrels and various containers with rainwater and water intended for household needs. To lay eggs, the number of which reaches 150, she needs moisture. The mosquito mother performs this procedure approximately once every 2-3 days, thereby providing herself with a huge number of offspring.

Photo of mosquito larvae

The eggs of mosquito species in cold climates are more tolerant of cold temperatures than those of species living in more favorable conditions. The larvae develop quickly in calm water, and a couple of days after leaving it they are already able to reproduce on their own.

It is a common belief that a mosquito only lives for one day. But this is far from true. Of course, being close to a person, annoying insects may not last long. On average, an adult mosquito lives only about five days. But under favorable conditions, mosquitoes last much longer.

Quiet summer evening, near a lake or stream, or maybe even over a path in the forest, you probably observed mosquitoes swarming. By the way, this randomly moving mass consists of only male mosquitoes. Science has described swarms that were up to 5 m wide and 7 m high.

How does mating take place?

The whole swarm of mosquitoes is waiting for the female to be nearby. This space-consuming mating method is called eurygamy, that is, mating at the time of swarming. Males, in numbers of up to 100,000 individuals, hustle, making ringing sounds with their wings, which attract females. The first one who manages to grab a curious individual flying into the swarm fertilizes her right in the air.

But the urban male mosquito mates without swarming. This is called “stenogamy” and allows the urban insect to produce offspring in basements, which are usually of limited size.

How the thirst for blood awakens

A male mosquito, ready for mating, detects a female with the help of antennae covered with microhairs; they serve as hearing organs capable of picking up sounds made by the female. The squeak of a mature female causes more mosquito activity than the sounds produced by a young individual.

From the moment fertilization occurs, the female mosquito begins to urgently need blood. Without it, she will not be able to lay eggs and hatch full-fledged offspring. Therefore, the female is looking for an object for feeding. A hungry fertilized individual can sense the presence of a warm-blooded object at a distance of up to 3 km! And in one go, the bloodthirsty “lady” can drink a portion larger than her original weight.

Why is a male mosquito a vegetarian?

It’s probably no news to anyone that only females bite us. And without exception, all assume males feeding on nectar, pollen, or not feeding at all. For example, like ringing mosquitoes, which live only 3 days and do not even have a mouth opening. And although they itch just as disgustingly as their bloodsucking young ladies, they do not cause any harm to humans.

By the way, if for some reason a female mosquito cannot find blood, she becomes a forced vegetarian. True, she also loses the ability to lay eggs.

A protein found in the blood of a person or animal gives the mosquito strength to lay eggs that can give birth to healthy mosquitoes. The male mosquito, the photo of which you see in this article, does not need such a solid supply. He has enough carbohydrates to enjoy life.

And what are they for?

Don’t rush to reason: “They bite painfully, they squeak disgustingly - they interfere with life!” Well, yes, they interfere to some extent. Mosquitoes - females and males - seem to be created to annoy people and animals. And they also carry diseases! But the disappearance of this important link in the natural world would lead to incredible cataclysms.

For example, in places with harsh climatic conditions sometimes they only serve as food for a huge number of birds. The disappearance of a mosquito means the death of birds... And then, probably, there is no need to tell. In addition, on their bodies these insects carry so many microelements necessary for the growth of blades of grass and giant trees that discussions about the need for a mosquito in our world go aside. There is nothing superfluous in nature!

The appearance of mosquitoes in the apartment - sleepless nights. Neighborhood with these insects cannot be pleasant, because they bite, and besides, they are carriers infectious diseases. It turns out that we know very little about them, but they are one of the components of the evolutionary chain, and, therefore, without their existence the development of other natural links is impossible.

Description of insects

What does a mosquito look like? A mosquito under a microscope looks nothing like the one small insects, which we are accustomed to seeing on our bodies. If in an apartment you can still see them on the wall or light curtains, then on the street they are perfectly camouflaged and quietly attack the “victim”.

Depending on the type of insect, the body of the insect may be yellow, gray or brown. Its length can vary from one to one and a half centimeters. Considering the structure of an adult mosquito, we can conditionally divide its body into such components as the head, thoracic segment, abdomen, long legs with claws, and wings.

Due to the special structure of the thoracic region, insects develop a long neck.

At the ends of the legs there are claws, due to which the mosquito can be held on various horizontal and vertical, as well as inverted surfaces.

Mosquito legs

Insect wings consist of many scales, and there is a fringe on the back side. Due to the longitudinal and transverse veins, they are tough and durable. The number of insect wing vibrations per second is more than one thousand times!

No less interesting is the structure of his head. It contains the mosquito's eyes and sensitive antennae. In addition, the mosquito's mouthparts are located precisely within the head and are a combination of the upper and lower lips, two jaws and sharp needles. The head of a mosquito is a kind of center responsible for searching for a food source.

If insects have lips and jaws, do mosquitoes have teeth? It turns out that yes, and the insect uses them when committing bites of the chosen “victim”. Mosquitoes are also teethers; their jaws are equipped with fifty teeth, with which they can successfully cling to tissue if they want to get enough. The teeth of an insect are a kind of retainer that allows the use of other elements. oral apparatus– needles and proboscis of a hungry mosquito.

The genital organs of insects are located in the abdomen - in the last two of ten segments, and the anus is also located here. The structure of the male's genital organs is much more complex than that of the female. When the insect is saturated, eggs are gestating, or obesity (even this happens) the abdomen tends to increase in size due to the pleural membranes.

The male mosquito is smaller than the female. The weight of a hungry mosquito is just over one milligram, and that of a satiated adult insect is three milligrams.

Features of the habitat

Attracts mosquitoes, of course. humid environment, in which they reproduce. Large concentrations of them are observed near reservoirs, rivers, the sea, in wooded and wetlands, and in meadows with tall grass. Within a multi-storey building, favorable conditions for their reproduction are created in basements - damp and unheated. Private houses are also not protected from their proximity; insects breed near swimming pools, wells, fountains, and in flower beds.

Even containers with collected water and ordinary puddles are a favorable factor for increasing their population.

They are very thermophilic, but too high temperature is not favorable for their reproduction. Particularly large concentrations of them have been recorded in regions with a temperate continental climate.

They live everywhere except Antarctica.

Mosquito "singing"

There is no need to remind you once again what sound a mosquito makes. Of course, when they fly, a nasty, annoying squeak reaches a person’s ears. Where is it coming from? From the mouth of an insect? Not at all! It is the high frequency of oscillations of the mosquito’s wings that is the very instrument that contributes to emitting a squeak, which subsides at those moments when the insect simply sits on the “victim” or rests on other objects in its habitat, with its wings folded.

It often seems that there is a whole swarm of insects in the room instead of one or two, the squeak is so loud that it can cause insomnia in people.

Population Reproduction

The female mosquito is the successor of the family and is responsible for bearing and hatching the eggs. Male mosquitoes are only responsible for fertilizing the female.

Life cycle

The mosquito can hatch up to one hundred and fifty eggs in one go. Within a week, the larvae hatch from them, go through four stages of development in a month and transform into a pupa, from which an adult insect is formed after five days.

An interesting fact is that insects are ready to mate immediately after emerging from the pupae. Males choose more mature females for fertilization.

Lifespan

How long does a mosquito live? Often, the lifespan of a mosquito depends on its living conditions. The answer to this question will always be different.

How long do mosquitoes live in an apartment? Until they are destroyed using special means or firecrackers.

The lifespan of a mosquito in nature is much longer. Biological studies reliably show how many days a mosquito lives. The air temperature indicator tends to fluctuate, but the life expectancy of an insect depends on its value:

at + 25°C it lives from 30 to 40 days;

at + 20°C – up to 60 days;

at + 15°C – up to 115 days;

at + 10°C - up to 120 days.

How do mosquitoes winter? After all, for example, hatched individuals in October experience cold weather due to their lifespan.

In winter, mosquitoes can take root in people's apartments and warm basements. Where do they spend the winter? natural conditions? Rotten stumps, remnants of vegetation - leaves, moss, various burrows and crevices where they hide help them survive the winter. They are, one might say, hibernating. Physiological processes in the body of a fertilized female slow down, and she lays eggs as the weather warms up. And with the onset of cold weather, males die for lack of a food source - nectar.

Nutrition

What do mosquitoes eat? The larvae have the opportunity to feed on particles of vegetation and microorganisms found in the water of the reservoir, which they pass through themselves. Adults survive on flower nectar. Then the question arises: why do mosquitoes drink the blood of humans and animals?

To bear and lay eggs, the female needs a lot of strength; nectar does not provide her with the necessary nutrients, while blood contributes to its complete saturation. This is why mosquitoes drink blood.

It should be noted that males do not bite, only females are voracious and in the moments after fertilization. The female mosquito sucks blood in order to gain strength and survive so that the population can continue to continue. If there is no source of blood nearby, then she dies after laying eggs, and her offspring are weak.

At one time, a mosquito can suck blood twice its weight, because the stretching abdomen is adapted to increase its size.

Varieties of blood-sucking insects

In total, there are more than three thousand species of insects on Earth. Up to a hundred of their species have taken root on the territory of Russia. The most common are:

An integral link in evolution

Why are annoying mosquitoes needed in nature? What function do they perform? These insects are a source of food for other beetles - dragonflies, swimming beetles, water striders, ticks, spiders, and water bugs. Since they breed in the vicinity of reservoirs, crustaceans, frogs, salamanders, various types of reptiles, and fish like to eat their larvae and adults. Mosquitoes are a source of food for river and seabirds that can stay on the water surface - gulls, terns, wild duck and geese, phalaropes.

It's easy to guess what will happen if mosquitoes disappear. From the usual chain evolutionary development For all of the above-mentioned individuals, the main source of food will disappear, which will entail a significant reduction in their number. The disappearance of one link leads to the disappearance of others... So “to find common language» with mosquitoes is necessary in order to maintain the natural balance on Planet Earth.

Mosquitoes are one of the most common insect species on the planet. They can be found almost everywhere, with the exception of Antarctica - they cannot tolerate such low temperatures as on this continent. As for the rest, they are ubiquitous, buzzing and squeaking, small and not very small, they can be found even in the desert, even in the center of a metropolis.

Biologists count more than 3000. They can range in size from a couple of millimeters to 3 centimeters. They are usually an unattractive gray-yellow color. These annoying insects produce their buzzing due to their very high speed flapping wings. If you ask the average person the question of what mosquitoes eat, the answer will be - of course, blood! But the fame of “bloodsuckers” for insects is not entirely deserved. This is explained by the fact that representatives of all types of mosquitoes have a special structure of the oral apparatus - they have it hidden in a long thin tube, which serves as the lower lip.

For some reason, not a single person thinks about what mosquitoes eat in the forest, for example, when there is not a single warm-blooded animal nearby. There is a persistent myth that to maintain life support they need exclusively fresh food. hot blood. However, this is not entirely true.

Mosquito activity is observed from May to October. If winter ends early, the first representatives of the species may appear even in April. During these months, more than one generation manages to change - after all, a mosquito lasts from 19 days for males to 40 for females. What do mosquitoes eat all this time?

Oddly enough, but with nectar and plant juices. Yes, yes, mosquitoes themselves are not aggressive towards warm-blooded creatures. They can easily live their lives on such a vegetarian diet. And in general, this is the answer to the question of what male mosquitoes eat. Males never drink blood - they do not need it for full development.

Where did the myth about bloodsuckers, hungry and greedy, come from, if everything that mosquitoes feed on is quite harmless in appearance? The fact is that the protein contained in the blood of mammals is necessary for female mosquitoes. For some species, this protein helps in the structure of egg cells, for others - in the reproduction of more of them. Thus, female mosquitoes drink blood to ensure full-fledged healthy offspring, and not to satisfy hunger. The same picture is observed in some other types of insects - horse flies, for example. In addition, not only human blood can trigger reproductive processes in mosquitoes. They get by quite well with the blood of other animals, as well as fish, reptiles and amphibians.

Now that you know what mosquitoes eat, you may begin to view their appearance in your apartment with less negativity. However, it should be remembered that despite their apparent harmlessness, mosquitoes remain carriers of dangerous diseases - malaria,