Watch Out For Mosquitoes!!!

Mosquito Life Cycle:                   

FEMALE:  Female mosquitoes feed on blood because it provides proteins that are needed to lay mosquito eggs.  After feeding, females lay their eggs.

EGGS:  Eggs must be laid near water.  They are usually attached together to form "rafts" that float on the surface of the water. They usually hatch within 48 hours.

LARVAE:  Larvae live in water between 4-14 days and stay near the surface to breathe.  Brushes near their mouths filter food needed for growth development. They shed their skin 4 times, growing each time, until they are ½ inch long.

PUPA: The pupa stage is the last development stage before becoming adult mosquitoes. In this stage they live in water from 1-4 days until they are ready to come out of their hard outer shell.  The mature mosquito rests and lets it's body dry.

You can prevent mosquito bites by:

• eliminate breeding grounds around your home (empty pails, birdbaths, pool covers, wheelbarrows, and any where else where water can sit)
• wearing insect repellent (DEET)
• repairing screens in doors and windows
• learn more!

Note: The Columbia/ Boone County Health Department makes every effort to ensure the usefulness and inoffensive nature of all its WWW links, but the content of these sites and any of their links are beyond our control. We can take responsibility only for the content of our own site and those internal links which are clearly indicated as our own.

• West Nile Virus information from the CDC
• West Nile Virus an illustration of its transmission cycle from the CDC

Return to the Environmental Health Department Division or return to the Columbia/Boone County Department of Public Health and Human Services Homepage