Mosquitoes: photo and description of a dangerous human enemy

If you look closely, the mosquitoes in the photo look like a thick clumsy mosquito. However, according to the consequences of their bites, they are much superior to their light-winged relative in the first place in that they spread much more diseases dangerous to humans.

On the other hand, the range where mosquitoes live is much narrower than that of a mosquito, so there is not always a danger of being bitten by this dangerous insect, one of which is shown in a very enlarged form in the next photograph.

Biological characteristics

Mosquitoes belong to the subfamily of long-winged dipterans, they are also referred to as the so-called gnat complex. They occupy a habitat in which negative temperatures are practically absent, that is, these are the tropics and subtropics. In the territory of the former Soviet Union, these are Crimea, the North and South Caucasus, part of the Stavropol Territory and the Kuban, and southern regions of Ukraine. In total, there are more than seven hundred species of mosquitoes, many of which carry various dangerous diseases, both for humans and animals.

Description

Mosquitoes - insects are very small, rarely their body length exceeds two millimeters. The color scheme is also not saturated and varies in black and white from almost transparent to dark. The only thing that can stain an insect is that drop of blood that it will suck from the victim.

Food

In the usual state, the larvae and imago of mosquitoes feed on natural juices, plant sugars. But for the development of oviposition, the female is forced to eat blood, in this regard, nature has laid some secret she knows. Apparently, plant foods are not enough to mature offspring.

Attention! Male mosquitoes, like mosquitoes, do not drink blood!

Breeding

Mosquitoes multiply in a full cycle, that is, in their generation, a complete transformation occurs in stages:

• egg;
• larva;
• pupa;
• imago.

Unlike the bloodworm known to everyone, the mosquito larva that lives in water, the offspring of mosquitoes do not develop in an aqueous, but simply in a humid environment at an optimum temperature of 25 to 30 degrees, depending on the species. Often their habitats are dunghills, rodent burrows or poultry houses.

Difference from mosquito

Many mistakenly believe that these insects represent one family, they are only different in name, this is not so, and the differences between mosquitoes and mosquitoes are significant. Part of the differences we have already mentioned in our narrative, we will list how the mosquito differs from the mosquito:

1. Let's start with a squeak, unlike a mosquito, mosquitoes do not squeak. After all, a nasty mosquito sound is made from the vibration of the wings, and fatty mosquitoes do not really like to fly. In Italy, in this regard, they are even called "pappa tachi", which translates as: "biting silently."
2. In a sitting mosquito, its wings are folded at an angle to the body, while in a mosquito, it is parallel to it.
3. Mosquitoes first fly to the victim and crawl over her body before the bite, when mosquitoes move in small leaps.
4. The flight qualities of mosquitoes are unimportant, therefore it is much easier to slam them than swirling and agile mosquitoes.

Harm

Now let's talk about the harmfulness that these small insects represent to humans. A mosquito bite is similar to a mosquito in its way of committing. The insect also selects the most vulnerable spot on the victim’s skin and pushes its proboscis there, spreading the tissues and helping with gnawing mites on the tip of the proboscis. At the same time, the insect injects saliva into the canal with painkillers and anticoagulants.

Moreover, in the picture we presented the mildest version of the consequences of bites. Depending on the type of mosquito and personal intolerance, skin lesions can be much more significant. And besides the obvious symptoms from mosquito bites, such as burning or scabies, larger troubles await you.

Mosquitoes are carriers of such dangerous diseases as:

• leishmaniasis;
• bartonellosis;
• mosquito fever.

In addition, mosquito bites often cause such a dangerous skin lesion as phleboderma.

Protection

On air

Inhabitants of central Russia and residents of areas of the country with a more severe climate, a meeting with mosquitoes can threaten only when traveling to "warm countries". To protect yourself on vacation, you must undergo the vaccination recommended for visiting a particular area, and also remember the basic means of protection against mosquitoes and mosquitoes:

• Use of special gels, ointments and aerosols before going out into the open air. You need to process all open areas of your body.
• Try not to leave the premises at the time of morning and evening twilight - the favorite time for insects to exit.
• Try to stay away from damp places, ponds with stagnant water or swamps when in the air, especially in cool weather.
• Wear loose clothing that covers as much as possible — wide shirts, loose trousers.
• Try not to overheat or sweat; for this, choose clothes in bright colors, as well as reduce the time spent outdoors.

In the House

To protect the house, you need to use blockers from mosquitoes:

• mosquito net;
• cheesecloth;
• sparse fabric or tulle.

How to get rid of mosquitoes in the house if they already got there? The simplest aerosol products will help, like the well-known Dichlorvos.

If there is a pool in your house or plot, do not let the water in it stagnate and begin to “bloom”. This will attract dangerous insects to the site, and then it will take a lot of trouble to get rid of mosquitoes.

Attention! Any places with stagnant water are potential places for mosquito breeding, and you and your animals will become the suppliers of the blood necessary for breeding parasites!

In addition to all sorts of chemical or ultrasonic methods that are so popular at present, remember that man himself is the best mosquito exterminator. You can just handle the trouble if:

• catch an insect;
• slam it with a newspaper or a special clapperboard;
• slap it between your palms;
• cover with a cup or glass on the surface of a table or other piece of furniture.

When catching and destroying mosquitoes manually, do not let them bite you, otherwise the whole hunt may become useless.

Advice! It is necessary to destroy all mosquitoes in the room to the last, and then take measures to protect the premises from repeated invasion.

After a bite

Consider what to do if a mosquito has bitten. Of course, it’s better not to bring it to this, but since it has happened, we must be prepared to deal with the consequences of a bite.

Attention! You can’t categorically scratch the place of a bite, no matter how much you want it!

And now recommendations for what to do with bites:

1. It is imperative to wash the bite site with soap and water.
2. Apply ice or a cool item.
3. You can use a slice of fresh vegetables or fruits, the juice of which can disinfect the wound: onion, tomato.
4. Use a solution of baking soda or boric alcohol.

In case of severe individual intolerance or danger of catching an infectious disease, consult a doctor immediately. Sometimes adults are embarrassed to contact a medical institution with a trifle pimple, but this is fraught with great danger. Do not mess with your own health, and especially carefully and impeccably take all necessary measures if the child has been bitten.

By the way! In Suriname, a state in the north of South America, where the famous Dutch footballer and coach, Ruud Gullit, hails from, there is still the death penalty by mosquitoes. Convicted nudity is tied to pillars in places teeming with mosquitoes.

Toward the curtain, look at how a mosquito bites a person’s hand: