Mosquitoes cause more deaths than any other animal on the planet. They can carry any number of deadly diseases, including malaria, dengue fever, yellow fever and encephalitis. Mosquitoes also carry heartworm, which can be lethal to your dog.
Malaria is an infection caused by the bite of an infected anopheles mosquito. The mosquito becomes infected by biting an infected person and drawing blood that contains the parasite. At least five parasite species (plasmodia) cause malaria in humans. In South Africa, anopheles funestus and anopheles arabiensis are the primary vectors (carriers) of malaria but the disease can also be transmitted through contaminated blood transfusions and shared drug needles or syringes.
Female mosquitoes need protein for their eggs and must suck the blood out of anything that moves to reproduce. Like Dracula, she tends to feed from dusk to dawn. Not all mosquitoes feed on humans though; some species prefer to feed on animals and birds instead of people.
Mosquitoes fly between 1.6 and 2.4 km per hour, which is rather slow in the insect world. Most other flying insects such as butterflies, locusts and bees would leave them far behind in a race.
A mosquito’s wings beat 300 to 600 times per second, which explains their irritating buzzing sound. However, the buzz is not just a way to annoy us – when the male and female meet, their buzzing synchronises to the same speed to perform a lover’s duet. Scientists once thought that only male mosquitoes could hear the wing beats of their potential mates, but recent research proved that females listen for lovers too.
All female mosquitoes require just a few centimetres of water in which to deposit their eggs. Tiny mosquito larvae develop quickly in places such as bird baths, roof gutters, old tyres and animal footprints after rain. Most mosquitoes surface from their watery breeding ground and stay close by. To control mosquitoes, regularly get rid of any standing water.
An adult mosquito may live for five to six months if it’s not slapped into oblivion for having the cheek to land on you. This is quite a long life expectancy for an insect.
The carbon dioxide that humans and other animals exhale is a sign to mosquitoes that a potential blood meal is near. Mosquitoes can detect carbon dioxide from 22 metres away and, once a female senses it in the vicinity, she flies back and forth until she locates her victim. Several studies show that besides carbon dioxide, the odour of blood, sweat and cheese also attracts mosquitoes.
As mosquitoes can build up resistance to various forms of anti-malaria medication, it’s very important that you seek the latest advice from your pharmacist or travel clinic before going to a malaria area.
Sources
www.insects.about.com
www.patient.co.uk/health/malaria-leaflet
www.pharmanewsonline.com
www.rense.com
www.santhnet.co.za