18 October 2022
Mosquitoes are best known for the habits of the adult females which often feed on blood to help generate their eggs. The lesser-known side is that mosquito adults, males and females, also feed on nectar from flowers. Their immature stages usually are located in standing, preferably stagnant, water.
Adult mosquitoes prefer to be most active from dusk until dawn but can become active with sufficient cloud cover or in dark shady areas. Mosquitoes can be confused with flies. Mosquitoes have long legs, and a long proboscis or “nose” that female mosquitoes use to “bite” people and pets to draw blood, needed to lay eggs. Most flies won’t bite and even long-legged flies are usually much smaller than mosquitoes.
Mosquitoes are pesky pests and can spread disease such as West Nile Virus, dengue and malaria More commonly, though, mosquitoes threaten family events more than health. Annoying signs of mosquito activity include the buzzing of the females and their bites. People have differing reactions to bites, ranging from mild irritation to intense inflammation and swelling. Signs of the immatures are their presence in standing water, which also can include watering dishes of containerized house plants. Call us today to prevent these pesky bites!
Zika is a virus that is transmitted by Aedes mosquitoes. The illness spreads when a mosquito feeds on an infected person, then infects others through its bites. Mosquitoes are the vector for Zika and it’s rare for the virus to spread from person to person, although there has been a recently confirmed case of sexually transmitted Zika in Dallas.
The Zika virus is related to chikungunya, dengue, yellow fever and West Nile. These diseases are also spread by Aedes mosquitoes. There is a chance that Zika can be passed from mother to child during pregnancy. There have been cases in Brazil and other places where babies whose mothers had Zika during pregnancy are born with microcephaly. This is an uncommon condition where the baby is born with a small head and incomplete brain development. Scientists are hustling to study this link. There also appears to be a link between this virus and Guillain-Barr’ syndrome. This is an autoimmune disease where the immune system attacks the nervous system which leads to muscle weakness and other complications like paralysis. When mosquitoes are active depends on the species.
Aedes mosquitoes are most active during the day, so it’s important to protect yourself around the clock. If you have a mosquito problem on your property, call us in to take a look at the situation today