• There are 3000 species of mosquito in the world and are believed to have originated in the 16th century.
• They are very prominent in Africa
• They weigh 2.5 milligrams and can fly at speeds of up to 1.5 miles per hour.
• It beats its wings up to 600 times per minute
• The females have a lifespan of up to a month and the males live for ten to twenty days.
• Females of some species can live for up to six months.
• They never stray more than three miles form their breeding ground
• The word mosquito is Spanish for little fly
• They feed mainly on fruit and pant nectar and only the female’s bite – feeding on the protein of the blood which is used to develop her eggs.  She can carry up to 300 eggs at a time.
• Larval and pupal stages develop in water and eggs develop into adult mosquitoes in 4 to 7 days
• They are attracted to humans by the smell of carbon dioxide, sweat, lactic acid, octenol as well as body heat. Octenol is what gives blood its metallic smell
• It can drink three times its weight in blood and it would take 1.2 million bites to drain the average sized human
• The itchiness of their bite is caused by the chemicals found in their saliva
• The carry some of the deadliest diseases known to man, including malaria.
• They cause millions of deaths every year in the developing world – especially amongst the elderly and young children.
• They are not, however, able to transmit the AIDS virus
• Mosquitoes are a source of food for many animals such as birds, bat, dragonflies and frogs
• Mosquitoes are not affected by electronic devices and devices that this use this as a deterrent are completely ineffective

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