Know Your Pest

Culex Mosquito (Culex Spp.)

Appearance:

Adult: 6.4-12.7mm long, brown with darker bands on abdomen (Culex Spp.) thin, long-legged winged insect; adults have three pairs of long, slender legs, with an elongate "beak" or proboscis to pierce skin.

Life Span:

Aquatic life cycle consists of Egg, Larva Pupa and adult and takes 7-10 days. Adults emerge from pupa. Generally males live for 15 days and female lives for 30 days. While male mosquitoes feed on plant nectar, female mosquitoes require vertebrate blood for producing fertile eggs. During it’s life time, a female mosquito can lay upto 1000 eggs in 5-7 batches and 150 – 200 eggs in each batch. Eggs are laid in clusters attached to each other in the shape of boat form that can float over water. These egg clusters are known as Egg Rafts. Mosquitoes mate only once in it’s lifetime.