10 facts about the mosquito

1. Did you know it is only female mosquitoes who bit humans and animals for blood? It's true. And they don't actually drink or feed on the blood. The females need the blood to be able to produce eggs.
2. Mosquitoes actually eat sweets, mainly nectar and juices from plants.
3. Mosquito eggs are laid in standing water. When the eggs hatch, larva come forth that will eventually become pupae and then an adult mosquito.
4. In the wild, adult male mosquitoes can live up to three weeks, but most often only survive about a week. Adult female mosquitoes can live for as long as three months.
5. Scientists estimates there are more than 3,000 species of mosquitoes throughout the world.
6. During the lifetime of a female mosquito, she can have as many as 3,000 offspring.
7. Scientists have found that mosquitoes rarely travel further than one mile from where they are born.
8. The oldest fossil of a mosquito that resembles modern mosquitoes was found in a piece of amber in Canada. It is believed to be nearly 80 million years old.
9. Distant insect relatives to the mosquito are believed to have existed as long as 170 million years ago.
10. The word "mosquito" was first known to be used in English in 1583, though the word itself originates from the Spanish word "mosquito" which means "little fly."