Susannah B. Traywick, age 9, of Cope, S.C.., for question:
Where do mosquitoes spend the winter?
Clouds Of these peskyy creatures appear f'rom nowhere in the spring. They are there all summer long when we want to picnic and explore the sunny outdoors. But in winter, when the weather is too cold for picnics and such, there are no mosquitoes around. No, they are not hiding in wait to attack us when we go out to enjoy the summer weather.
Tie mosquito as everyone knows is an insect. Most insects have a very interesting life cyc1e. A glenwrous butterfly hatches from a leathery chrysalis, and the Bleeping chrysalis was once a wormy caterpillar the caterpiller hatched from a small egg. The mosquito also lives through four stages. The winged mosquito that attacks us is the grown up insect. You would nevcr recognize her in the earlier stages of her life.
For one thing, she is a flying creature of the air. You would never guess that she spends her early life in the water. But that is where we must look for her. The name amphibian is given to frogs and other animals that spend part of their time on land and part in the water. The mosquito is also an amphibian. She is an amphibious insect.
Mrs. Mosquito lays her eggs on the top of a pond or lazy creek. In some pisces she may choose a patch of swampy ground. Way up in Alaska, she lays her eggs on the ground where winter covers them with snow. In summer, the eggs become winged adults in just a few weeks. But the winged adults do not hatch during the winter. They wait until spring.
A batch of mosquito eggs looks like a tiny raft. The eggs look like an army of small sticks standing shoulder to shoulder in a tight circle. In warm weather, each egg hatches in a few days. It becames a larva. The mosquito is now a whiskery little wriggler, darting through the water in search of food. She comes to the surface once in a while to breathe.
The wriggly larva becomes a pupa floating near the top of the Water. At this stage some people call the mosquito a tumbler. Inside a tough shell, the sleeping insect is getting ready for her final stage. At last she hatches. She spreads her gauzy wings and flies off to feed on liquid blood. She lays her eggs and soon perishes. A few may hide and last until spring. The wrigglers and tumblers stay Just as they are through the winter. In spring they become winged mosquitoes in a hurry and flocks of them take to the air.
The eggs and the wrigglers and the tumblers provide food for many of the fishes and other water dwelling animals. Naturally we want to rid ourselves Of the pesky dive bombing mosquitoes that spoil our picnics. And it is a good idea to destroy them in the early stages of life. Swamps and creeks can be spread with oily films. This stops the young pests from getting the air they need. But strong chemicals often kill fish and other creatures along with the mosquito pests and this is not a good idea.