Mortein

Mosquitoes are active at all times of the day especially on warm humid days, with peak biting periods at dusk and dawn. Only the female mosquito bites; she sucks up a small amount of blood that she uses as a source of energy to lay her eggs.

Mosquitoes are attracted to people by chemical and physical signals, such as exhaled breath and body heat. These signals vary amongst individuals and this is why some people are more prone to being bitten than others.

The peak breeding time for mosquitoes is during spring and summer. Mosquitoes always develop in water, but the type of breeding place varies with the species of mosquito. Common breeding places are flood waters, woodland pools, slow-moving streams, ditches, marshes, and around the edges of lakes. Mosquitoes may also develop in tree cavities, rain barrels, fish ponds, bird baths, old tires, tin cans, guttering, and catch basins or anything else that holds water. The extensive breeding of mosquitoes in such containers has often contributed to disease outbreaks and the most effective control of mosquitoes around the home is to prevent them from breeding by eliminating or altering existing breeding sites.

The larvae, commonly called "wrigglers", feed on organic matter suspended in the water, They mature in 7-10 days and change into a pupae or "tumbler" stage and feed at first on sweet liquids. Two or 3 days later, adult mosquitoes emerge. Only female mosquitoes bite as they need a blood meal in order to produce eggs. After taking a blood meal, each female lays 100-400 eggs or more. The entire mosquito life cycle may be completed in only 10 days. However their life cycle depends on species and local environment conditions; moisture and heat do speed up their development.

There are many mosquito species but only certain species are responsible for transmitting specific diseases to humans. A mosquito contracts disease when it bites an infected person, then it becomes a carrier for the disease and passes it onto the next person it bites. These diseases cannot be spread directly from one person to another. Tropical or sub-tropical mosquito species such as Aedes, Anopheles and Culex can transmit life threatening diseases such as malaria, filariasis, dengue, yellow fever, encephalitis or West Nile fever.