๐ฆ Animal world ๐ Insects and minibeasts
The mosquito
๐ In short
Bzzz! That's a mosquito flying near your ear at night. The mosquito is a small flying insect only a few millimeters long, but it's one of the most dangerous animals for people, because some kinds spread serious diseases like malaria.
๐คฉ Did you know?
- A mosquito flaps its wings about 1000 times a second, which makes its whine.
- A female mosquito may lay about 3000 eggs in her life.
- A mosquito is usually between 3 and 6 millimeters long.
- Mosquitoes find people by smelling the air they breathe out.
๐ Find out more
๐ Who bites?
Only female mosquitoes suck blood, because they need it to make their eggs. Males just drink flower nectar and plant juices.
๐ A needle-like mouth
A mosquito has a thin sharp mouthpart that it pushes into the skin to suck blood. It leaves a little of its spit in the skin, which is what makes the itch and the bump.
๐ก Born in water
A mosquito lays its eggs on the surface of still water, and larvae hatch that live in the water. That's why we shouldn't leave standing water in containers and old tires.
๐ฏ How do we protect ourselves?
We use a mosquito net over the bed, put screens on the windows, wear long clothes in the evening and use mosquito repellent.
๐ธ More pictures
๐งฉ Test yourself
1 Which mosquito bites and sucks blood, the male or the female?
2 Where does a mosquito lay its eggs?
3 A female mosquito may lay about ?? eggs in her life.
4 Which picture shows โThe mosquitoโ?
๐ฆ Discover more
๐ท Picture sources: Wikimedia Commons
- Muhammad Mahdi Karim ยท GFDL 1.2
- Lindemom1 ยท CC BY-SA 4.0
- Abhishek727Abhishek Mishra ยท CC BY-SA 3.0
- Tjeerd Wiersma from Amsterdam, The Netherlands ยท CC BY 2.0
