Ever wondered why mosquitoes were created?

Like... they're too annoying to exist, why are they here?

The disturbing sound they make when they fly past you, the skin reddening, painful bites, the itching! 

The times they make you slap yourself in an attempt to wade them off...

They should be in the bushes, or deserts or far away in the North Pole, sure Santa won't mind.

Well... Mosquitoes are beneficial to your survival.

You'll see that later in this article.

Mosquitoes are small, flying insects of over 3500 species all over the world. They are common insects with slender, scaly bodies and long thin legs. Like other insects, their lifecycle goes through Egg, larval, pupal and adult stages, with each stage having different habitat and food preferences.

Eggs are laid and hatched on water surfaces into larvae. These larvae swin with a wriggling movement as such are called wrigglers and feed on algae, bacteria, and organic matter found in the water.

In the pupal stage, they are free swimming and don't feed on anything- Mosquito pupae don't eat at all. The length of the lifecycle of mosquitoes varies from species to species.Adults of both sexes live on land and feed on nectar from flowering plants.    

Females of most species enjoy a little more 'luxury' as they also feed on blood, their reproductive responsibility being the cause.  Female mosquitoes need protein from blood to lay eggs. Humans, birds, rodents and snakes are the major victims of the vampire nature of this insect.

Not trying to sound like an advocate for the most annoying insects ever but, Mosquitoes are quite beneficial. Mosquitoes are beneficial to nature as they act as pollinating agents through their feeding interaction with flowering plants.

They brush against the flowers' sexual organs and pick up or transfer pollen grains. With millions of mosquitoes around, plants are able to spread and multiply. Almost 80% of the food crops we eat require pollination

So, typically, if we did not have Mosquitoes, we wouldn't have enough food. 

Take Home Notes:

• Only female mosquitoes feed on blood
• Blood meal is a small portion of her diet because she needs it only to reproduce.
• Mosquitoes need sugar to survive. They get it from nectar and plant sap
• With millions of nectar-loving mosquitoes around, plants spread and increase in diversity. 

Add what you learnt in the comment section below.

To control mosquitoes- Get A Pest Control Professional