Mosquito Facts

Most mosquito problems start in your local environment.
Mosquitoes are not capable of spreading AIDS. Because HIV does not multiply nor survive in the mosquito, it will not ‘leak’ into any of the body fluids and will only stay in the blood meal and in the digestive channel of the mosquito. Hence, HIV cannot be transmitted though mosquito bites from one person to the next, even if a mosquito bites a person with HIV infection.
People are not always the primary blood hosts for mosquitoes. Many mosquitoes prefer to seek blood from birds and other mammals. The Arctic Circle has very few people, but millions of mosquitoes.
Most mosquitoes do not like to travel and will stay within a 1 mile radius of their breeding site, however salt marsh species are capable of flying up to 40 miles.
Mosquitoes locate their blood hosts through scent, sight, and heat. They can detect our scent, especially the carbon dioxide we are exhaling, from up to 100 feet (30 meters) away. They can see you at a distance of about 30 feet (10 meters).
Bug zappers kill very few mosquitoes, but kill numerous beneficial insects.
There are over 3,000 mosquito species worldwide. Sixty (60) of these species are in North Carolina and 25 species are in eastern North Carolina.
Mosquitoes are responsible for more deaths throughout the world than any other living creature.
Studies have shown that while bats and birds consume a large number of insects, mosquitoes are a very small proportion of their diet.
The itch of a mosquito bite is due to chemicals it injects to keep the blood from clotting.