[Karsten (OP)]

It is March now. Below freezing almost every night. We have a few mosquitoes in the house. Where do they come from? Where did they hatch? Surely not outside. When were their eggs laid? I thought they needed it warm?

[Don_1]

Wow!

You mean you've got these flying around your house?

We've found a number of slug trails in our garden despite the freezing weather.

[Karsten (OP)]

No, the insect kind.

Weird. Every year.

[Karen W.]

No, the insect kind.

Weird. Every year.

Crawl under the house it is a protective area if you have a leak or some standing water under the house they may very well be coming from there.. otherwise check around the house outside for standing water that may be trapped in a blocked gutter or in a pot or bucket outside.. perhaps in a tarp or plastic covered item to be protected from winter. Mosquitoes will find anyplace where there is standing water and the weather has been kinda weird this year.. check out under the house as well as the yard around you.. Perhaps someone has a  lot of standing water close by.. water tub for critters etc..etc...

[Karsten (OP)]

Well, yes, there is tons of standing water. Nothing under the house though. We have a basement. All available OUTSIDE water was frozen just recently and freezes over all the time still. Just last week it was below 0 degrees Fahrenheit. Do they breed inside sometimes?

[yor_on]

Have you checked if you have a pool?
indoors pool that is??


If so, don't open that door!!!

[Karsten (OP)]

An indoor pool. I wish! (Or not, since it may cost a good penny to keep it maintained). Anyhow, no pool. Dry and cold basement. No standing water as far as I know.

Killed another couple a few days ago. Still below freezing almost every night here.

[112inky]

Mosquitoes live half of their life in the air and half of it in the water.During the winter time ,mosquitoes are present in lakes and slow running streams as eggs that are attached to vegetation. Only the first few inches on the water freezes so the eggs can survive until the spring time. When the weather begins to warm up and the water reaches a certain temp the eggs hatch and the mosquitoes are now larvae. They go through a short pupal stage and then they become flying mosquitoes during the summer. The females are the only ones that bite you because they need a rich blood supply to produce more eggs. The females then lay their eggs near the water and the cycle begins once again...... I don't know how come mosquitoes are there in winter ... weird!!!

[dadilly]

Hi, I am seeing the same thing. At least one mosquito a week, just flying around. My only guess is, do you have a water pump in your basement? We do, its just standing water, but there is a cover there, but i think mosquitoes can still fly out.  Thing is we usually have the basement door closed.

[DrN]

Global warming anyone?!

Or maybe they're mutant, vampire mosquito's with anti-freeze running through their circulatory system.

[blakestyger]

I've found this:

Some kinds of mosquitoes overwinter as adult females that mate in the autumn, enter hibernation in animal burrows, hollow logs or basements and pass the winter in a state of torpor.
Females, in spring, leave hibernation, blood feed and lay the eggs that produce the next generation of adults.
A few mosquitoes overwinter in the larval stage, often buried in the mud of freshwater swamps. As it gets warmer in spring, these mosquitoes start feeding, complete their immature growth and eventually emerge as adults.

To paraphrase Newton-

"All that I know (about insects) is only by standing on the shoulders of gnats"

Happy Easter

[Karsten (OP)]

I've found this:

Some kinds of mosquitoes overwinter as adult females that mate in the autumn, enter hibernation in animal burrows, hollow logs or basements and pass the winter in a state of torpor.
Females, in spring, leave hibernation, blood feed and lay the eggs that produce the next generation of adults.

Aha! That fits. Especially since they were here for only a while and seem to be gone again. The few females that hibernated have laid eggs and died. Next generation to come soon. Finally an explanation that fits my situation. Thanks!

[Karen W.]

I've found this:

Some kinds of mosquitoes overwinter as adult females that mate in the autumn, enter hibernation in animal burrows, hollow logs or basements and pass the winter in a state of torpor.
Females, in spring, leave hibernation, blood feed and lay the eggs that produce the next generation of adults.

Aha! That fits. Especially since they were here for only a while and seem to be gone again. The few females that hibernated have laid eggs and died. Next generation to come soon. Finally an explanation that fits my situation. Thanks!

Glad you have it solved.. we always have a few renegade mosquitos here in the winter.. not every one but often.. even through we experience freezingconitions also.