Where Do Mosquitoes Live & Breed?
Mosquitoes Depend on Stagnant Water for Life, From Breeding to Daily Growth & a General Habitat
Mosquitoes are arguably the most annoying lawn pests out there.
Since we were kids, we’ve all grown aggravated with mosquitoes over the warmer months of being attacked in our own backyards, at concerts, picnics, and anywhere else these bloodsuckers are able to track you down for a meal. All too often, we just can’t escape those pesky bugs.
They bite you, even through clothing, leaving you with itchy bumps that are hard to ignore. Sometimes, there are so many that all the bug spray in the world doesn’t seem like enough protection.
But there are ways to avoid these nightmare scenarios, and it begins with education and awareness around knowing about mosquitoes’ lives, where they live, and where and when they breed.
Where Do Mosquitoes Live?
Mosquitoes can live in almost any environment, except for extreme cold weather. They favor forests, marshes, tall grasses and weeds, and ground that is wet at least part of the year.
A mosquito’s body changes drastically throughout their lifecycle. As a result, these pests require different conditions to survive depending on what stage of development they are in. However, one thing a mosquito habitat almost always includes is a water supply.
Water provides mosquitoes with a place to lay eggs as well as grow and develop through their water stages (egg, larval, and pupal).
After the airborne portion of their life cycle, females return to water to lay a new batch of eggs. Female mosquitoes usually lay their eggs on the surface of water or in areas where water can rise, flood the eggs, and stimulate them to hatch.
Because water is imperative to their survival, mosquito habitats break down into two basic types: permanent water and floodwater.
Mosquito Breeding
Permanent water mosquitoes tend to lay their eggs in clumps, called rafts, of 50 to 300 on the surface of standing water at the edges of lakes and ponds and among the vegetation in swamps and marshes. Some species prefer clean water, while others prefers stagnant or polluted water.
Culex and Anopheles mosquitoes are among the most common permanent water mosquitoes. These mosquitoes are most active when the average temperature is above 70 degrees Fahrenheit. Their eggs must stay in water in order to survive and usually will hatch within a couple of days, releasing larvae to begin the development process.
Many permanent water mosquitoes can also breed in containers that collect and hold water, such as pools, buckets, or toys left outside. To prevent these types of mosquitoes from breeding in your yard, make sure there is no standing water around.
Floodwater mosquitoes lay their eggs in moist soil. The eggs, as many as one million per acre, will dry out as the ground does, then hatch when rains saturate the ground and water levels begin to rise.
Floodwater habitats can include drainage ditches that fill during storms, pools of water created by melting snow or spring and early summer rains, floodplains along the banks of streams and rivers, irrigated farmland, and other soft ground where depressions form.
Mosquitoes that breed in floodwater habitats usually become a problem about a week after a heavy rain and subside in about a week or two, at least until the next downpour.
Floodwater mosquitoes also breed in containers like the insides of old tires where dirty water collects or tree holes that gather rainwater.
Ways to Keep Mosquitoes Away
Whenever water stands for four to seven days, mosquitoes can multiply. In warm temperatures, breeding can occur even faster.
Getting rid of stagnant water is a good first step towards lessening the number of mosquitoes in your area. Birdbaths, kids’ toys, outdoor pet bowls, plant saucers, tire swings, wheelbarrows, clogged rain gutters, trash cans, and plastic wading pools are oftentimes overlooked as potential breeding grounds.
Changing birdbath water frequently, drilling holes in the bottom of uncovered trash cans or flower pots, flipping buckets and any other vessels upside down, and draining pool covers are simple ways to avoid breeding.
Keeping your grass short and removing piles of lawn debris can also help as adults frequently rest in these dark, damp areas during daylight hours.
Mosquito habitats can be hard to remove entirely, as nearly any source of water an inch or deeper can serve as a breeding ground for these disease-carrying insects. Catseye Pest Control offers an Organic Tick and Mosquito Program to help deter both pests from spreading on your property. Contact us today to schedule a no-cost inspection.