- There are over 3,000 different species of mosquitoes around the world.
- “World’s deadliest animal” - responsible for around 1 million deaths per year.
- Mosquitoes do not transmit the 2019 novel coronavirus (COVID-19).
- A mosquito life cycle from an egg to an adult takes approximately only 8 to 10 days.
- It only takes a very small amount of water to attract a female mosquito to lay eggs.
- Mosquitoes generally lay 100 eggs at a time
- A female mosquito can produce up to 500 eggs throughout its lifetime.
- Aedes’ eggs can survive drying out for up to 6 months.
- Males have a shorter life span with 10 days or less; females can live up to eight weeks.
- Mosquitoes depend on rainfall to reproduce.
- Higher reproduction rates are during the rainy season - October through February in east peninsular Malaysia, Sabah and Sarawak; May through October in west Peninsular Malaysia.
- Mosquitoes are able to keep flying when it’s raining.
- Man-made containers as preferable breeding sites.
- Mosquitoes don’t travel far from their breeding sites.
- Active during the dusk and dawn, active indoor and outdoor.
- Nectar from flowers and water are both males and females’ main sources of nutrients.
- Only females bite to produce eggs; males don’t bite.
- Mosquitoes don’t have teeth; they pierce human skin and suck the blood using a proboscis (sharp needle-like tubes).
- Mosquitoes are able to drink 3 times their own body weight in blood.
- Mosquitoes can fly up to 7 meters high and 400 metres radius.
What attracts mosquitoes to humans?
1. Carbon dioxide (CO2) – Humans produce more CO2 when active. Increase in CO2 levels can alert a mosquito that a potential host is nearby.
2. Colour – Mosquitoes are attracted to dark colours especially black.
3. Body heat – The human body generates heat. Mosquitoes are actively drawn towards higher body temperatures.
4. Learning – Mosquitoes are a highly adaptable species. They could learn to prefer a certain type of host such as body odour – good-quality blood meal.
5. Pregnancy – Mosquitoes appear to be more attracted to pregnant women - produce high body temperature and exhale more CO2.
6. Blood type – People with Type O blood are found to be most attractive to mosquitoes than other blood types
7. Body odor – Mosquitoes are attracted to certain compounds that are present on human skin and in sweat (eg: lactic acid and ammonia).
