The Mosquito Life Cycle

Topic

Resource Type

Level

High School — General High School — AP/IB College

Duration

00:03:05

Saved By

5 Users

View in Spanish

Description

This video provides a quick overview of the mosquito life cycle, from egg to adult, and discusses how mosquitoes can transmit viruses to people.

To prevent mosquitoes from spreading disease, it's essential to understand their life cycle. Mosquitoes like Aedes aegypti develop through specific stages that include the egg, larva, pupa, and adult. The development of the larva and pupa can only occur in water. When a mosquito feeds on blood that is infected with a virus like dengue, the virus multiplies inside the mosquito’s midgut and then enters other organs, including the salivary glands. When that mosquito bites another person, it will transmit the virus in its saliva to that person.

Key Terms

Aedes, complete metamorphosis, development, egg, infection, larva, mosquito-borne disease, pupa

Terms of Use

The resource is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-ShareAlike 4.0 International license. No rights are granted to use HHMI’s or BioInteractive’s names or logos independent from this Resource or in any derivative works.