Aedes Mosquito

Under optimal conditions, the egg of an Aedes mosquito can hatch into a larva in less than a day. The larva then takes about four days to develop into a pupa, from which an adult mosquito will emerge after two days. Three days after the mosquito has bitten a person and taken in blood, it will lay eggs, and the cycle repeats.

Did you know?

1. Only the female Aedes mosquito bites, as it needs the protein in blood for its eggs to develop.
2. The mosquito becomes infective approximately seven days after it has bitten a person carrying the virus. This is the extrinsic incubation period, during which time the virus replicates in the mosquito and reaches the salivary glands.
3. Peak biting is at dawn and dusk
4. The average lifespan of an Aedes mosquito in nature is two weeks.
5. The mosquito can lay eggs about three times in its lifetime, and about 100 eggs are produced each time.
6. The eggs can lie dormant in dry conditions for up to about nine months, after which they can hatch if exposed to favourable conditions, such as water and food.