Learning Center

The Life Cycle of a Mosquito

1. Female mosquitoes lay hundreds of eggs every few days directly on or near water during their lifetime. Water is needed for the eggs to hatch, which typically happens within 48 hours.
2. The larvae will emerge once they hatch. Larvae are referred to as “rollers” because of how they appear while swimming; this is also known as the infant stage. Larvae live in the water and come to the surface to breathe, molting their skin four times and growing larger with each molt. The larvae become pupae after four stages of molting.
3. Resting before they make their grand entrance, the pupae is considered the teenage stage of the life cycle and the non-feeding era. Pupae still live in the water and continue to swim around. They are lighter than water so they live at the surface, and must occasionally take oxygen through breathing tubes called, “trumpets.” During this stage, the adult mosquito begins to develop, which can take up to four days dependent upon the temperature of the water.
4. Adult mosquitoes will rest on the water with two concerns; mating and feeding. Once the body is completely dry and hardened, and the wings have fully opened, they are able to fly. Males locate females by the sound of their wings. Once they mate, males live three to five days and females live considerably longer, upwards of one to two months.

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The Life Cycle of a Tick

1. There are four stages to a tick’s life cycle: egg, larvae, nymph, and adult, taking up to three years to fully develop. Throughout these years, most ticks feed on three different hosts.
2. Upon hatching, they become larvae and the larvae feeds on the first host, which is typically a bird or a rodent, for several days before they detach and fall back on the ground.
3. The larvae then transform into nymphs, which become active in the spring and begin to look for their second host – a rodent, pet or human and feed, repeating the process of detachment and molting.
4. Once the tick enters the final stage of its life cycle, which occurs during the fall, both male and female ticks will look to feed on its third host, usually a rodent, deer, dog, cat, or human. Once the tick is well fed it detaches, falls to the ground and the males die. Female ticks, however, live through the winter and lay eggs in the spring before dying, completing the life cycle of a female tick.

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The Life Cycle of a Flea

1. Fleas undergo 4 stages in their life cycle: eggs, larval, pupal and adult.
2. They lay between four to eight eggs which fall to the ground and hatch within one to twelve days.
3. The larval stage lasts from four to eighteen days, and then the flea will enter the pupal stage.
4. The pupal stage can last anywhere from three days to one year.
5. Once the flea emerges from the pupal stage they become adults, and begin searching for food. Fleas will likely become adults more rapidly when in warmer temperatures and high humidity.

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Common Mosquito and Tick Diseases

Mosquito bites are unpleasant, leaving you itchy and irritated for days. However, mosquitoes and other biting insects can be more than just a nuisance; they can also be fatal. Disease cases transmitted by infected mosquitos, ticks, and fleas have tripled in the last 13 years, totaling more than 640,000 cases since 2004. Mosquito Joe of Andover-Peabody wants everyone to enjoy the outdoors no matter where they live or travel, so start educating yourself on these illnesses, where they are prevalent, and how you can protect yourself, your family, and pets from them.

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