What Are The Typical Habits Of The Bay Area Mosquitoes?

What attracts mosquitoes to humans? Do mosquitoes die after biting you? Keep reading to find the answers to these and other questions about the typical habits of mosquitoes. Here’s what the Bay Area homeowners should know about what happens after a mosquito bite, whether mosquitoes can live in chlorinated water, and how you can use pest control in the Bay Area to reduce mosquito populations in your yard.

How Quickly Does A Mosquito Bite After Landing?

While it may seem like you find mosquitoes on random body parts, mosquitoes actually have a systematic approach to how – and where – they bite you. Female mosquitoes suck blood to obtain the nutrients they need to reproduce. They have special nerve cells that allow them to detect carbon dioxide and perspiration in people. 

This allows them to find their next meal, and it also explains why mosquitoes tend to target people that are sweating or exercising more often. Once a mosquito has you in her sights, she will land on your skin and begin probing for the perfect spot. Mosquitoes are looking for a blood vessel, and once they find one, they’ll use their sharp mouthparts to pierce your skin and begin sucking blood. 

If they’re infected with a mosquito-borne disease, this is also when a mosquito will transmit that disease into your bloodstream. While they’re sucking your blood, mosquitoes also expel unwanted fluids, like water, to take in as many nutrients from your blood as possible. 

It’s important to note that only female mosquitoes will bite humans. Female mosquitoes require nutrients in our blood to lay eggs, but both male and female mosquitoes drink nectar from flowers. 

What Does A Mosquito Do After It Has Sucked The Blood?

Does a mosquito die after biting you? Unlike honeybees, mosquitoes do not die after they bite you – in fact, they start reproducing new mosquitoes. Once a female mosquito has gotten her fair share of blood and flown away, she will rest for a few days and allow the nutrients to nourish the eggs. 

Once she’s rested, the mosquito will lay her eggs in standing water and allow them to hatch. Since it can take several days for a batch of eggs to hatch, female mosquitoes will start looking for their next blood meal to nourish their next batch of eggs. Although they only live for a few months, mosquitoes can produce hundreds of new eggs during this time. 

Why do mosquito bites itch? While you may not notice the initial bite, you’re sure to notice the itchy aftermath. This is because of your immune system response. Once a mosquito has bitten you and left its saliva behind, your immune system responds by producing histamines to get rid of the foreign saliva. 

During the bite, mosquitoes pump chemicals into our bodies that delay that immune response – which is why you don’t start itching immediately after the initial bite. 

Can Mosquitoes Live In Chlorinated Water?

As mentioned previously, mosquitoes lay their eggs in standing water but does that include chlorinated water? Is your backyard pool at risk of becoming a breeding ground for mosquitoes? 

Most of the time, no, mosquitoes cannot live in chlorinated water or lay their eggs there. Well-maintained chlorine pools that are regularly filtered tend to be too deep and become too clean. Mosquitoes rely on the buildup of bacteria in standing water to feed their newly-hatched eggs, and a chlorine pool that’s regularly used and cleaned won’t be able to provide that. 

However, if you leave your chlorine pool completely uncovered for extended periods of time without filtering it, you could eventually create a breeding ground for mosquitoes. This is why it’s important to make sure you cover and maintain your swimming pool, even when you don’t plan to use it in the recent future. 

Total Mosquito Control For Bay Area Homes

It may seem like there is no avoiding mosquitoes in the warmer months of California, but that’s not true. Working with the pest control pros at Bay Pest can help you keep mosquito populations at bay in your yard, whether that’s through treatments or by helping you eliminate breeding grounds. 

If you feel like you’re constantly itching at new bug bites or you’re worried that your yard could be a breeding ground, there’s no reason to put yourself at risk. Contact us today at Bay Pest to learn more about how our mosquito control program works for Bay Area residents.