I am obsessed with mosquitos as of late and it’s because they are everywhere – inside, outside, and all places in between. They follow you, stake you out, and feast on whatever unfortunate part of your body happens to be exposed.
Still, despite their considerable annoyance factor, I am a sucker for all living creatures and when my partner Dominic chased down a swarm of mosquitos with a fly swatter the other night, I found myself feeling sorry for them. That then got me to wondering about the life span of a mosquito. I figured it was something very short, like a day or two, but what I learned surprised me. Some other facts also surprised me.
- The average life span of a mosquito is two months. (Less if you’re in my house being chased down by a madly swinging fly swatter)
- Mosquitos hibernate! (I thought for sure that when warm weather was done, they simply soared off into mosquito la la land.)
- A mosquito is a mosquito is a mosquito, right? Wrong! (There are whopping 3500 species of mosquitos)
- Mosquitos must hatch in water and live there for 10 days. (Moral: be sure and dump any standing water around your yard.)
- It’s true that mosquitos favor certain people! Why? It’s a matter of body odor – good, bad or indifferent, there are certain odors that these winged creatures prefer. (What do they like? If your cholesterol level is high, lower it both for your health and to avoid mosquitos. They also like people whose sweat contains folic acid, some bacteria, scented lotions and perfume.)
- Forget beefing up your squadron of bats. (Counter to popular opinion, bats don’t eat mosquitos.)
- And finally – these tiny creatures are quite robust. (They have been around since the Jurassic period, as in 210 million years ago.)
So the next time a mosquito buzzes in your ear, think of what you learned here today and that these seemingly simple insects are not so simple after all. So lather yourself with Off and enjoy those mosquito serenades. (Buzz, buzz, buzz)
madmuser 