Body: have a pair of scaled wings, a pair of halteres, a slender body, and long legs.
The wings long and narrow, with scales along the veins. Bodies also very thin. Females bite, but males do not; the female proboscis has 6 piercing parts. Body length: To 3/4″. 76 species and subspecies of mosquitoes are currently known to occur in Florida. This large diversity derives from Florida’s semi-tropical climate and proximity to tropical countries. There are 13 United States species that occur only in Florida. These pesky bloodsuckers that leave you scratching are more than just a nuisance… they are a menace. They carry diseases – encephalitis, malaria, West Nile Virus – and cause heartworms in your canine friends. Mosquitoes have many sensors to designed to seek out their prey. Chemical sensors that can sense carbon dioxide and lactic acid up to 100 feet away. Just about any mammal or bird gives off these gases as part of its normal breathing. Certain chemicals in sweat also seem to attract mosquitoes. Mosquitoes can detect heat, so warm-blooded mammals and birds are easily found once they get close enough. Mosquitoes have visual sensors that can easily see contrasts and movement. Mosquitoes need water. All mosquitoes have four stages of development-egg, larva, pupa, and adult-and spend their larval and pupal stages in water. When adult mosquitoes emerge from the aquatic stages, they mate, and the female seeks a blood meal to obtain the protein necessary for the development of her eggs. The blood of any mammal will do.
