Skip to main content

Biology of Mosquitoes

  • Chapter
  • First Online:
Mosquitoes and Their Control

Abstract

Regarding their special adaptational mechanisms, mosquitoes are capable of thriving in a variety of environments. There is hardly any aquatic habitat anywhere in the world that does not lend itself as a breeding site for mosquitoes. They colonise the temporary and permanent, highly polluted as well as clean, large and small water bodies; even the smallest accumulations such as water-filled buckets, flower vases, tyres, hoof prints and leaf axes are potential sources. In temporarily flooded areas, along rivers or lakes with water fluctuations, floodwater mosquitoes such as Aedes vexans or Ochlerotatus sticticus develop in large numbers and with a flight range of several miles, become a tremendous nuisance even in places located far away from their breeding sites (Mohrig 1969; Becker and Ludwig 1981; Schäfer et al. 1997).

This is a preview of subscription content, log in via an institution to check access.

Access this chapter

Chapter
USD 29.95
Price excludes VAT (USA)
  • Available as PDF
  • Read on any device
  • Instant download
  • Own it forever
eBook
USD 299.00
Price excludes VAT (USA)
  • Available as EPUB and PDF
  • Read on any device
  • Instant download
  • Own it forever
Hardcover Book
USD 379.99
Price excludes VAT (USA)
  • Durable hardcover edition
  • Dispatched in 3 to 5 business days
  • Free shipping worldwide - see info

Tax calculation will be finalised at checkout

Purchases are for personal use only

Institutional subscriptions

References

  • Barr AR (1958) The mosquitoes of Minnesota (Diptera: Culicidae). Univ Minn Agric Exp Stn Tech Bull 228:154

    Google Scholar 

  • Barr AR, Azawi A (1958) Notes on the oviposition and the hatching of eggs of Aedes and Psorophora mosquitoes (Diptera, Culicidae). Univ Kans Sci Bull 39:263–273

    Google Scholar 

  • Beach R (1978) The required day number and timely induction of diapause in geographic strains of the mosquito Aedes atropalpus. J Insect Physiol 24:448–455

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Becker N (1989) Biologische Stechmückenbekämpfung am Oberrhein. Biologischer Pflanzenschutz Schriftenreihed Bundesministers für Ernährung, Landwirtschaft und Forsten. Angewandte Wissenschaft, Landwirtschaftsverlag GmbH, Münster-Hiltrup 344:145–171

    Google Scholar 

  • Becker N, Ludwig HW (1981) Untersuchungen zur Faunistik und Ökologie der Stechmücken (Culicinae) und ihrer Pathogene im Oberrheingebiet. Mitt dtsch Ges allg Angew Entomol 2:186–194

    Google Scholar 

  • Bidlingmayer WL (1964) The effect of moonlight on the flight activity of mosquitoes. Ecol 45(1):87–94

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Bidlingmayer WL (1975) Mosquito flight paths in relation to the environment. Effect of vertical and horizontal visual barriers. Ann Entomol Soc Am 68:51–57

    Google Scholar 

  • Bidlingmayer WL (1985) The measurement of adult mosquito population changes-some considerations. J Am Mosq Control Assoc 1:328–347

    PubMed  CAS  Google Scholar 

  • Bidlingmayer WL, Evans DG (1987) The distribution of female mosquitoes about a flight barrier. J Am Mosq Control Assoc 3(3):369–377

    PubMed  CAS  Google Scholar 

  • Borg A, Horsfall WR (1953) Eggs of floodwater mosquitoes. II. Hatching stimulus. Ann Entomol Soc Am 46:472–478

    CAS  Google Scholar 

  • Briegel H, Kaiser C (1973) Life-span of mosquitoes (Culicidae, Diptera) under laboratory conditions. Gerontologia 19:240–9

    Article  PubMed  CAS  Google Scholar 

  • Brust RA, Costello RA (1969) Mosquitoes of Manitoba. II. The effect of storage temperature and relative humidity on hatching of eggs of Aedes vexans and Aedes abserratus (Diptera: Culicidae). Can Entomol 101:1285–91

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Burgess L (1959) Techniques to give better hatches of the eggs of Aedes aegypti. Mosq News 19(4):256–259

    Google Scholar 

  • Clements AN (1963) The physiology of mosquitoes. Pergamon Press, Oxford, p 395

    Google Scholar 

  • Clements AN (1992) The biology of mosquitoes, vol 1, Development, nutrition and reproduction. Chapman & Hall, London, p 509

    Google Scholar 

  • Dahl C, Widahl LE, Nilsson C (1988) Functional analysis of the suspension feeding system in mosquitoes (Diptera: Culicidae). Ann Entomol Soc Am 81:105–127

    Google Scholar 

  • Davis EE, Sokolove PG (1975) Temperature response of the antennal receptors in the mosquito Aedes aegypti. J Comp Physiol 96:223–236

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Gillett JD (1955) Variation in the hatching-response of Aedes eggs. Bull Entomol Res 46:241–253

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Gillett JD (1983) Abdominal pulses in newly emerged mosquitoes Aedes aegypti. Mosq News 43:359–361

    Google Scholar 

  • Gillies M (1972) Some aspects of mosquito behavior in relation to the transmission of parasites. Zool J Linn Soc Suppl 1(51):69–81

    Google Scholar 

  • Gjullin CM, Stage HH (1950) Studies on Aedes vexans (Meig) and Aedes sticticus (Meig), flood water mosquitoes, in the Lower Columbia River Valley. Ann Entomol Soc Am 43:262–275

    Google Scholar 

  • Gjullin CM, Hegarty CP, Bollen WB (1941) The necessity of a low oxygen concentration for the hatching of Aedes eggs (Diptera: Culicidae). J Cell Comp Physiol 17:193–202

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  • Hearle E (1926) The mosquitoes of the Lower Fraser Valley, British Columbia and their control. Nat Res Counc Can Rep 17:1–94

    Google Scholar 

  • Horsfall WR, Fowler HW (1961) Eggs of flood water mosquitoes. VIII. Effect of serial temperatures on conditioning of eggs of Aedes stimulans Walker (Diptera: Culicidae). Ann Entomol Soc Am 54:664–666

    Google Scholar 

  • Horsfall WR, Lum P, Henderson L (1958) Eggs of floodwater mosquitoes, V Effect of oxygen on hatching of intact eggs. Ann Entomol Soc Am 51:209–213

    CAS  Google Scholar 

  • Horsfall WR, Fowler HW, Moretti LJ, Larsen JR (1973) Bionomics and embryology of the inland flood water mosquito Aedes vexans. University of Illinois Press, Urbana, p 211

    Google Scholar 

  • Ikeshoji T, Mulla MS (1970) Oviposition attractants for four species of mosquitoes in natural breeding waters. Ann Entomol Soc Am 63(5):1322–1327

    PubMed  CAS  Google Scholar 

  • Joslyn DJ, Fish D (1986) Adult dispersal of Ae. communis using Giemsa self-marking. J Am Mosq Control Assoc 2:89–90

    PubMed  CAS  Google Scholar 

  • Judson CL (1960) The physiology of hatching of aedine mosquito eggs: hatching stimulus. Ann Entomol Soc Am 53:688–691

    CAS  Google Scholar 

  • Kellogg FE (1970) Water vapour and carbon dioxide receptors in Aedes aegypti. J Insect Physiol 16:99–108

    Article  PubMed  CAS  Google Scholar 

  • Lehane MJ (1991) Biology of blood-sucking insects. Harper Collins Academic, London, UK, p 288

    Book  Google Scholar 

  • Magnarelli LA (1979) Diurnal nectar-feeding of Aedes cantator and Ae. sollicitans (Diptera: Culicidae). Environ Entomol 8:949–955

    Google Scholar 

  • McIver SB (1982) Sensilla of mosquitoes (Diptera: Culicidae). J Med Entomol 19:489–535

    PubMed  CAS  Google Scholar 

  • Minakawa N, Githure JI, Beier JC, Yan G (2001) Anopheline mosquito survival strategies during the dry period in Western Kenya. J Med Entomol 38:388–392

    Article  PubMed  CAS  Google Scholar 

  • Mohrig W (1969) Die Culiciden Deutschlands. Parasitol Schriftenreihe 18:260

    Google Scholar 

  • Murlis J (1986) The structure of odour plumes. In: Payne TL, Birch MC, Kennedy CEJ (eds) Mechanisms in insect olfaction. Clarendon Press, Oxford

    Google Scholar 

  • Nayar JK, Sauerman DM (1975) The effects of nutrition on survival and fecundity in Florida mosquitoes. Part 2:Utilization of a blood meal for survival. J Med Entomol 12:99–103

    PubMed  CAS  Google Scholar 

  • Nielsen LT (1957) Notes on the flight ranges of Rocky Mountain mosquitoes of the genus Aedes. Proc Utah Acad Arts Sci Lett 34:27–29

    Google Scholar 

  • Parker KR, Mant MJ (1979) Effects of tsetse salivary gland homogenate on coagulation and fibrinolysis. Thromb Haemost 42:743–751

    PubMed  CAS  Google Scholar 

  • Price GD, Smith N, Carlson DA (1979) The attraction of female mosquitoes (Anopheles quadrimaculatus Say) to stored human emanations in conjunction with adjusted levels of relative humidity, temperature and carbon dioxide. J Chem Ecol 5:383–395

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  • Provost MW (1953) Motives behind mosquito flight. Mosq News 13:106–109

    Google Scholar 

  • Robinson GG (1939) The mouth parts and their function in the female mosquito, Anopheles maculipennis. Parasitol 31:212–242

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Schäfer M, Storch V, Kaiser A, Beck M, Becker N (1997) Dispersal behavior of adult snow melt mosquitoes in the Upper Rhein Valley, Germany. J Vector Ecol 22(1):1–5

    PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • Smith CN, Smith N, Gouck HK, Weidhaas DH, Gilbert IH, Mayer MS, Smittle BJ, Hofbauer A (1970) l-lactic acid as a factor in the attraction of Aedes aegypti (Diptera: Culicidae) to human host. Ann Entomol Soc Am 63:760–770

    PubMed  CAS  Google Scholar 

  • Sutcliffe JF (1987) Distance orientation of biting flies to their hosts. Insect Sci Appl 8:611–616

    Google Scholar 

  • Telford AD (1963) A consideration of diapause in Aedes nigromaculis and other aedine mosquitoes (Diptera: Culicidae). Ann Entomol Soc Am 56(4):409–418

    Google Scholar 

  • Tischler W (1984) Einführung in die Ökologie. Gustav Fischer Verlag, New York

    Google Scholar 

  • Travis BV (1953) Laboratory studies on the hatching of marsh-mosquito eggs. Mosq News 13:190–198

    Google Scholar 

  • Weitzel T, Collado A, Jöst A, Pietsch K, Storch V, Becker N (2009) Genetic differentiation of populations within the Culex pipiens complex and phylogeny of related species. J Am Mosq Control Assoc 25:6–17

    Article  PubMed  CAS  Google Scholar 

  • Wilson GR, Horsfall WR (1970) Eggs of floodwater mosquitoes. XII. Installment hatching of Aedes vexans. Ann Entomol Soc Am 63:1644–1647

    Google Scholar 

  • Telford AD (1963) A consideration of diapause in Aedes nigromaculis and other aedine mosquitoes (Diptera: Culicidae). Ann Ent Soc Am 56(4):409–418

    Google Scholar 

Download references

Author information

Authors and Affiliations

Authors

Corresponding author

Correspondence to Norbert Becker .

Rights and permissions

Reprints and permissions

Copyright information

© 2010 Springer-Verlag Berlin Heidelberg

About this chapter

Cite this chapter

Becker, N. et al. (2010). Biology of Mosquitoes. In: Mosquitoes and Their Control. Springer, Berlin, Heidelberg. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-540-92874-4_2

Download citation

Publish with us

Policies and ethics