How Many Mosquitoes Are There in the World?
How Many Mosquitoes Are in the World?
It’s impossible to accurately tabulate the number of mosquitoes in the world. The adult lives of mosquitoes are brief, rarely lasting more than 15 days. And female mosquitoes lay a clutch of 100-200 eggs every three days, laying as many as three sets of eggs before dying. With such a rapid reproduction cycle, the number of mosquitoes in our world is changing every second.
However, across the globe there are 3,500 different species of mosquito. These species are subdivided into 112 genus-species with the main distinction being preferred breeding habitat
How Many Species of Mosquitoes Are There in the World?
There are approximately 3,500 species of mosquitoes worldwide with around 175 residing in the United States. Most of the mosquitoes found within the United States fall into three genera: Aedes, Anopheles, or Culex genus.
Aedes
These mosquitoes can be identified by their narrow black bodies and legs with alternating bands of light and dark. They were originally found in the tropics but have spread throughout the world and are now found on all continents except Antarctica. Aedes mosquitoes are responsible for the spread of dengue fever.
Anopheles
Mosquitoes in this genus are the main transmitters of malaria throughout the world, though the species that live in the United States do not transmit malaria. 460 different species of mosquitoes have been identified within this genus, but not all of them are able to transmit disease.
Culex
Culex are often thought of as the common house mosquito, but are responsible for transmitting a number of diseases including West Nile Virus and encephalitis. In the United States, this mosquito can be found throughout the Southeast states.
While the total number of mosquitoes there are in the world is impossible to quantify, we do have an idea of the number of types and species. With 3,500 species worldwide, that’s certainly a lot of mosquitoes.
How Many Mosquitoes Are in Your Backyard?
To give you an idea of how hard it would be to determine a world population of mosquitoes, have you ever tried to count the mosquitoes flitting around your backyard? We’re willing to bet you haven’t. We’re also willing to bet that the thought of doing so is daunting. To get close enough to count them would surely requite sacrificing yourself to an uncomfortable excess of bites.
If it starts to feel like every mosquito is targeting your backyard, give your local Mosquito Joe a call or request a free quote and make the first step toward a mosquito-free yard!
