Latin Name for Mosquitoes

Family Culicidae

What Do Mosquitoes look like?

Mosquitoes belong to the same group as flies, Diptera. That is why they have a single pair of wings. Mosquitoes typically have long, thin legs and a head featuring a prominent proboscis. Mosquito bodies and wings most often are covered in tiny scales. Adult sizes may range from 3 to 9 mm.

How Do We Get Rid of Mosquitoes?

Mosquito treatment is usually an integrated effort involving source reduction plus the use of chemical control products when needed. Since mosquitoes breed in water, we target and eliminate water sources favorable for mosquito breeding. While source reduction is the more effective long-term approach to mosquito treatment, the mosquito treatment plan may require using chemical products to supplement source reduction.

Our Mosquito Treatment Plan

Our mosquito control plan begins with our Greencare technician conducting a thorough property inspection and identifying the type of mosquitoes out there.

Once the inspection is complete, our pest control technician will prepare a mosquito treatment plan that provides recommendations and implementation for both source reduction and necessary chemical product use.

Some of the recommendations might include the following.

Source Reduction

  • Keeping Mosquitoes Out of the House: Providing recommendations to exclude mosquitoes from getting inside the home.
  • Eliminate Hiding Spots: Providing recommendations for vegetation management since many species of mosquitoes rest in vegetation around the home during the day.

Chemical Treatments:

  • Vegetation Treatments: Applying insecticides to vegetation that adult mosquitoes use for sheltered resting sites.
  • Water Treatments: Applying insect growth regulators that prevent mosquito development in their water environments.
  • Prevent Eggs From Hatching: Applying microbial insecticide products that cause mosquito mortality in their water environments.
Custom Mosquito Control Solutions

All our Greencare technicians are trained to help manage mosquitoes and similar pests. Since every building or home is different, our Greencare technician will design a unique program for your situation.

Did You Know

Male adult mosquitoes do not feed on blood, while female ones do in order to produce eggs. However, a few species of mosquitoes do not feed on blood at all, and instead feed on plant nectar and other sugars.

FAQ
Frequently Asked Questions About Mosquitoes

Mosquitoes in the Home

When mosquitoes find their way inside your home through an open door or window, they usually rest in dark, hidden areas, but will come out at night in search of a blood meal. Homeowners sometimes find mosquitoes under sinks or in closets and laundry rooms.

Mosquitoes in the Yard

Mosquitoes breed in standing water, so properties near ponds, marshes, and depressions that collect rainwater are at risk. Some mosquito species are active at different times of the day, but most emerge just before dusk and are active at night.


Mosquitoes can transmit several dangerous illnesses to humans, including Zika virus. This rare disease affects pregnant women and may lead to birth defects. These mosquito-borne diseases may also have serious side effects.


Signs of mosquito activity include the buzzing of the females and their potential bites. People have differing reactions to bites, ranging from mild irritation to intense inflammation and swelling. The presence of standing water can also provide the optimal environment for mosquito reproduction. Nymphs are found in standing water areas such as water bowls for pets, potted plants, bird feeders, and stagnant ponds.


Mosquitoes are best known for the habits of the adult females which often feed on blood to help generate their eggs. The lesser-known side is that mosquito adults, males, and females, also feed on nectar from flowers. Their immature stages usually are located in standing, preferably stagnant, water. The larvae feed on a variety of materials, depending on species.

What Do Mosquito Larvae Eat?

Most consume organic flotsam and tiny aquatic organisms. However, some species are predatory and will consume other mosquitoes. Adult mosquitoes prefer to be most active from dusk until dawn but can become active with sufficient cloud cover or in dark shady areas. They do not prefer to be active in the sunshine since they may desiccate and die.

Mosquitoes or Flies?

Mosquitoes can be confused with flies. Mosquitoes have long legs, and a long proboscis or “nose” that female mosquitoes use to “bite” people and pets to draw blood, needed to lay eggs. Most flies won’t bite and even long-legged flies are usually much smaller than mosquitoes. Mosquitoes are pesky pests and can spread diseases such as West Nile Virus, dengue, and malaria. More commonly, though, mosquitoes threaten family events more than health.


Reproduction

Males have feathery antennae they use to locate females. After mating, females typically seek a blood meal to aid in egg production. She often lays them in standing pools of water, but manmade sources can include bird baths, buckets, and even mud puddles. Egg numbers vary from species to species but can be as much as over 100 eggs in a single laying.

Stages of Development
Wormlike larvae, called wigglers because of their wiggling swimming motion, hatch. They feed until ready to molt into pupae. The pupae are called tumblers, again due to their tumbling motion in the water. Adults emerge from the pupae onto the water surface where their exoskeleton hardens.

Difference between male and female mosquitoes
Most of the differences between male and female mosquitoes are hard to see without using a magnifying glass or a dissecting microscope. However, other differences are fairly easy to see if you know what you’re looking for. Differences between male and female mosquitoes include:

  • Females Bite – Male adult mosquitoes do not take blood meals, while the females do. However, a few species of female adult mosquitoes do not imbibe blood at all and feed only on plant nectar and other sugars, just like the males.
  • Proboscis – The mosquito’s proboscis that extends out from the mouth area is relatively smooth with the females and somewhat bushy with males.
  • Antennae – The hairs or plumes on the mosquitoes’ antenna assist with the ability to hear. The male’s antennae plumes are very “feathery” and large, while the female’s antennae have a smoother, less feathery appearance.
  • Size Difference – Generally, male mosquitoes are smaller than females of the same species and live shorter lives than the females.

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