Mosquito Facts

Mosquitoes are strongly attracted to people who have recently eaten bananas.

Mosquitoes are attracted to humans by the smell of their feet more than any other part of the body.

A mosquito's wings beat 300-600 times per second.





Mosquitoes fly at speeds between 1 and 1.5 miles per hour.

Rubbing yourself with a garlic clove is supposed to keep mosquitoes away... and vampires... and probably other people, too!






Malaria is a tropical disease spread by mosquitoes. Since the Stone Age, malaria has been responsible for half of all human deaths from illness.

There are more than 3,000 species of mosquitoes, but the members of three bear primary responsibility for the spread of human diseases. Anopheles mosquitoes are the only species known to carry malaria. They also transmit filariasis (also called elephantiasis) and encephalitis. Culex mosquitoes carry encephalitis, filariasis, and the West Nile virus. And Aedes mosquitoes, of which the voracious Asian tiger is a member, carry yellow fever, dengue, and encephalitis.

Mosquitoes use exhaled carbon dioxide, body odors and temperature, and movement to home in on their victims. Only female mosquitoes have the mouth parts necessary for sucking blood. When biting with their proboscis, they stab two tubes into the skin: one to inject an enzyme that inhibits blood clotting; the other to suck blood into their bodies. They use the blood not for their own nourishment but as a source of protein for their eggs. For food, both males and females eat nectar and other plant sugars.