Mosquito Larvae 101: Habits, Diet, and Control Strategies
All mosquitoes go through metamorphosis and they undergo four distinct stages in their lives, namely egg, larva, pupa, and finally, adult. The lifecycle of a mosquito takes around one month.
What does mosquito larvae eat? Mosquito larvae feed on anything that they find available in the water, often microorganisms that already live there such as algae. However, mosquito larvae do not feed on humans or others that don’t live with them in the water. What is even interesting is that there are some mosquito larvae species that also feed on other mosquito larvae species. Yes, you’ve read that right. This is the kind of world where mosquitoes also eat their fellow mosquitoes.
Quick Facts about Mosquito Larvae
As mentioned earlier, the development of mosquitoes occurs in different stages with the larval stage of the lifecycle of a mosquito being the second stage out of four.
These mosquito larvae are like tiny wriggling worms that swim around in standing sources of water and this is the very reason why they are sometimes called wrigglers.
The distinct stages of the development of mosquito larva are referred to as instars. After every instar that often lasts for one day or two, the larvae will shed their skin or molt. For most mosquitoes, the process has three up to four instars that only lasts for several days. But, the complete lifespan of a mosquito can last from four days up to a few months that depend on the temperature as well as other conditions.
The Life Cycle of Mosquito Larvae
How long does the larval stage last and what takes place during this particular point in the life cycle of a mosquito?
After the female mosquito lays eggs in water, around plant bases, or soil, the eggs wait until there is enough water before they hatch into larvae.
The mosquito larvae wriggle around for several days where they usually molt three up to four times prior to moving on to their life cycle’s next phase.
These larvae often stay just under the surface of the water so you can easily spot them in places with standing water.
Even though there are species that can breathe completely underwater, majority of mosquito species have a part of the body that is called a siphon. They need to break into the water surface for them to breathe air during this specific stage of their lives. The siphons can often be found at the tips of their tails.
After the larva feed and molt three to four times, they will now develop and become pupae.
Health Impact of Mosquito Larvae
The good news is that mosquito larvae don’t bite animals or people and if ever they get ingested when an animal drinks the water where they are living in, they don’t usually cause any serious harm to that animal.
It seems that it is only the adult stage of mosquitoes that can bring harm to animals and humans alike.
Controlling Mosquito Larvae
Since these tiny guys only grow and survive in water, you can do several things to ensure that they don’t reach their adult phase. Here are a few tips to help you control mosquito larvae.
- Get rid of any spots with standing water in your outdoor space or yard. This includes the bird baths.
- Use mosquito dunks for treating drainage ditches, ponds, as well as other water areas that are not drainable. The mosquito dunks are going to poison only the larvae without causing harm to other animals. You can buy mosquito dunks from home improvement shops.
- Maintain outdoor water features and pools on a regular basis so that they don’t become a hospitable spot where the larvae can develop. Ensure that the pump is functioning properly and use the correct levels of chlorine.
- You can apply mineral oil to any standing water as this will drown the larvae way before they get the chance to mature and grow into adults.
- There are some areas that use chemical treatments especially made to kill mosquito larvae called larvicides in case it is not possible to use other methods. These don’t seem to cause harm to fish as well as other animals that live in water.
It appears that the most effective way of controlling and killing mosquitoes at their larval stage.
Way of Life of Mosquito Larvae
Mosquitoes tend to multiply the fastest in subtropical and tropical habitats yet they have also managed to adapt to various habitats. The larvae or eggs of some species can survive even when frozen in ice. There are also others that hibernate when they become adults for them to live where the ground is covered in snow for months and temperatures fall below zero. Due to their ability to adapt, mosquitoes tend to thrive on all continents except Antarctica.
The mosquitoes require a habitat with slow-moving or stagnant water because this is where the eggs hatch and this is also where the larvae live until they get old enough to develop into adults. They go through the larval stage fast but there are times when they go from eggs into adults in just one week or even less. This means that they don’t necessarily require permanent sources of water. They could also survive even in areas where there are temporary puddles that form following a hard rain then dry up right away. The warm weather during summer encourages the fastest development of mosquitoes from eggs to adults. A mosquito’s shortest life cycle is around 4.5 days.
Larvae find it hard to live in fast-moving water although there are some types that could also survive even in woodland creeks. The stream breeders look for vegetation along the banks where they anchor themselves or try to stay away from the stream’s main flow by searching for isolated eddies.
Mosquito larvae can eat anything that can be found in the water where they live in. Since they are easier to spot, killing them during this stage is the easiest way to prevent them from turning into full grown adult mosquitoes.
