When you are dealing with pests this summer you may want to know why they are around. Some pests thrive in the hot weather that summer brings and that makes them a problem. Other pests hate the heat and will try to get in your house to cool off. There are many reasons that pests cause trouble but one in particular is a serious issue. Mosquitoes are a problem around even small water sources and in warm to hot temperatures. This is when the larva will emerge and the new adults come out to annoy you and your summer activities. Mosquitoes are known for many things but there are some interesting facts that you may not have known. Snell Scientifics outlines some of the challenges of mosquito control below.
Mosquitoes are the Deadliest Insect
It may be hard to imagine that this flying summer pest could be the deadliest insect but it is. Mosquitoes are not a large scary pest that attack in great hoards but they have aspects that are much scarier. They carry disease that can and do cause death every single year. The disease that is passed from a single infected mosquito bite has been linked to around one million deaths every year. They also infect many more people that are sick and need treatment to survive.
Mosquitoes are Attracted to Breath
When researchers studied the speed and flight of mosquitoes they found that they fly about a mile and a half an hour. The interesting thing is that sounds fast for such a small pest but it isn’t. They are quite slow even butterflies and bees can and do fly faster than a mosquito. Even though they are slow when they fly they still bat their wings really fast. They have up to 600 beats per second which is why you can hear them buzzing around. The good news is that mosquitoes aren’t strong enough to fly through the wind of a fan. As a bonus, the breeze from a fan disperses the human emanations that allow female mosquitoes to zero in on humans to bite. Mosquitoes are attracted to body heat and odors as well as carbon dioxide in our breathe.
Male Mosquitoes Save Their Energy to Chase Females
One of the things that people may not realize is that not all mosquitoes bite people. The only mosquitoes that bite people are the females. They need to have a meal of blood to add the protein that is needed to care for their eggs. That is why they are the ones that feed while the male mosquitoes feed on nectar. They only need to have energy to chase the ladies around so avoiding a human that might swat them is out of the question. There are even some species of mosquito that avoid humans and will feed on animals. They feed on birds and other animals.
Mosquitoes Only Need Small Water Sources to Breed
You might think that you are safe from mosquitoes if you don’t live near a river or other major body of water. That is just not true. A mosquito does require a large water source. Rather a leaking hose that has left a puddle in your yard is plenty. They have been known to drop their eggs in small water sources where the larva will emerge quite fast. Then the newly hatched mosquitoes will cause trouble around your home. Be sure that you keep any water sources dried up this summer.
Mosquito Product Testing
Snell Scientific offers precise and accurate testing of carbon dioxide and other mosquito traps, wind tunnel plume disruption devices and much more. Call us to learn more today!
