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Life Sciences => Plant Sciences, Zoology & Evolution => Topic started by: thedoc on 19/01/2010 18:59:40

Title: How do mosquitoes lay their eggs?
Post by: thedoc on 19/01/2010 18:59:40

How do mosquitoes lay their eggs? We never see them doing so...
Asked by Outstanjing, via Twitter

               
               Read the naked scientists answer here (http://www.thenakedscientists.com/HTML/content/questions/question/2536/)
               
            

Title: How do mosquitoes lay their eggs?
Post by: thedoc on 19/01/2010 18:59:40

Mosquitoes depend on water for their life cycle.  Different mosquitoes live in different environments and as a result they depend on different types of water - stagnant water, big ponds of water, dumped car tyres with a bit of water and so on. You can actually tell which species of mosquito you're dealing with depending upon where they're laying eggs.
 The bottom line is the mosquito goes down to the water once it’s mated and different species of mosquito lay eggs in different ways.  But they all lay their eggs into water.
Certain species lay them as individual eggs which drift off; others lay big rafts of eggs. The eggs mature and hatch into little larvae, which then have an aquatic phase; they grow in the water and eat algae and things, growing into large mosquito larvae. These then mature into full blown mosquito flies that then take off and come and bite you. 
You just have to keep an eye on a patch of water and you’ll see the mosquitoes coming down to lay their eggs!

Title: How do mosquitoes lay their eggs?
Post by: mystyle on 28/01/2010 06:39:24

Quote from: thedoc on 19/01/2010 18:59:40

Mosquitoes depend on water for their life cycle.  Different mosquitoes live in different environments and as a result they depend on different types of water - stagnant water, big ponds of water, dumped car tyres with a bit of water and so on. You can actually tell which species of mosquito you're dealing with depending upon where they're laying eggs.
 The bottom line is the mosquito goes down to the water once it’s mated and different species of mosquito lay eggs in different ways.  But they all lay their eggs into water.
Certain species lay them as individual eggs which drift off; others lay big rafts of eggs. The eggs mature and hatch into little larvae, which then have an aquatic phase; they grow in the water and eat algae and things, growing into large mosquito larvae. These then mature into full blown mosquito flies that then take off and come and bite you. 
You just have to keep an eye on a patch of water and you’ll see the mosquitoes coming down to lay their eggs!

It is true they live their three phase of life in water and for survival they spend their adult life in air(land). Only female mosquito is reason for spreading disease  like malaria. Male mosquito don't involve in these things, but how they survive then. Their survival depend on what, let me know.

Title: How do mosquitoes lay their eggs?
Post by: Don_1 on 28/01/2010 09:42:08

The female only drinks blood prior to and during egg laying.

At other times, both male and female feed on plant nectar.

Title: How do mosquitoes lay their eggs?
Post by: Bored chemist on 28/01/2010 19:33:36

I think you will find they drink sap rather than nectar.

Title: How do mosquitoes lay their eggs?
Post by: Don_1 on 29/01/2010 11:14:12

Yes BC, they penetrate into the xylem and phloem with their proboscis to drink plant sap and also feed on decaying plant matter, but they do take nectar also.