Pest of July – Mosquito

Mosquito – Scientific Name: Culicidae

Let me get a raise of hands from everyone that celebrated 4th of July this month and remained injury free. My family and I were able to take a break from the normal hustle of everyday and get together for a cookout and to set off some fireworks. All in all we had a blast however, our lovely pest of the month (Mosquitoes) also had themselves a grand ole’ time as seen from the chicken pox like condition my daughter was left in. With that being said I would like to note that the get together was not at our house nor an area that VexGuard has treated for mosquitoes!

10 Mosquito Facts

I have another article I’m soon posting on why you have so many mosquitoes so I wont go into that with this article. What I want to discuss today are 10 mosquito facts that you may not know.

1. Mosquitoes are ranked number 1 for worlds deadliest animal. They have caused several disease outbreaks that have caused mass deaths in short periods of time.

2. Like humans only the female lands on a host and bites. (I’m soooo joking about the like humans part. Relax!)

3. Mosquitoes buzz in our ears because they are attracted to carbon dioxide which when you breathe is not only emitted through your mouth and nose but also your ears.

4. The word “mosquito” is the Spanish and Portuguese word for “little fly”.

5. Mosquitoes do not like strong air movement so the addition of a fan to your outdoor patio will keep our pest of the month away.

6. Female mosquitoes live up to a month or longer while the male only survives for about 2 weeks.

7. A mosquitoes wings beat 300-500 beats per minute.

8. A mosquito can infect a person with West Nile Virus but the person may never know it – not all people end up with symptoms.

9. The airline industry sprays its airplanes to eliminate any mosquitoes that hitched a ride on the planes, especially those coming from countries with outbreaks of mosquito-borne diseases.

10. Mosquitoes not only feed on blood but also on nectar and other plant secretions. (This is why our power misting program works so well)

So what do you guys think? If you’re like my you still hate the little guys but at least you were able to learn something new today! Here is one last fact I’d like to point out; while digging for the best mosquito facts I could find, not once did I come across anything GOOD that mosquitoes do to contribute back to the ecosystem. There are very few insects, plants, animals, and even humans that in some way, shape, or form don’t contribute in a positive way to our ecosystem.

Down below in the comments section let me know if you know something positive about mosquitoes that I was not able to dig up and also let us hear your 4th of July stories.