Mosquitoes

Two thousand five hundred species and 1,000 subspecies of mosquitoes thrive across diverse ecological niches from the arid desert to the subarctic tundra. The life cycle, habitat preference, and temporal behavior of mosquitoes is therefore highly variable and species dependent. Over its life cycle, a mosquito hatches from an egg, develops through aquatic larval stages into a pupae and finally an airborne adult. Larval mosquitoes inhabit almost all temporary natural, human altered or anthropogenic water holding bodies on land. Extraordinary larval habitats include salty water, hot springs, tree holes, inside of plants (e.g., pitcherplants, bromeliads) and even water in between plant cellular tissue. Mosquitoes that transfer diseases to humans preferentially breed in disturbed environments (e.g., burrow pits, hoof prints) or containers (e.g., potable water jars, ...