How do mosquitoes survive the winter?

Mosquitoes are especially numerous in summer, but in winter, they can't be seen. Where have they gone? In fact, due to natural environmental factors, most mosquitoes have died in winter. Where do summer mosquitoes come from? The following small series will introduce you to how mosquitoes winter!

How do mosquitoes survive winter?

Mosquitoes generally begin to appear in April each year and reach their peak activity in mid-to-late August. When the temperature drops below 10℃ in autumn, mosquitoes will stop breeding, a large number of deaths, and very few mosquitoes will survive. They can avoid wind and cold in places such as wall cracks, such as hiding in warmer and more hidden places indoors, such as behind wardrobes. However, it will avoid hot places, such as heating. This can avoid winter, but also can reduce the metabolic rate, avoid starvation and death.

When the temperature warms in early spring, the surviving adult mosquitoes begin to suck blood, lay eggs and reproduce offspring, but most mosquitoes die naturally in winter, and only a few survive until the following spring.

Mosquitoes overwinter

Mosquitoes overwinter in different ways. For example, Culex piens pallens overwinter as adults, Anopheles minimus and Culex tritaeniorhynchus overwinter as larvae, and Aedes albopictus overwinter as eggs.

How long do mosquitoes live?

Male mosquitoes die about 7-10 days after mating under natural conditions, but can live for 1 - 2 months in the laboratory. Female mosquitoes generally live for one to two months, and have lived for four months in the laboratory.