Where do mosquitoes hide in winter?

  • Female mosquitoes perform the diapause to survive
  • This technique allows them to survive up to 6 months
Image: iStock

If we did a survey on what are the most annoying insects in the world, mosquitoes would win by much difference. No matter where in the world we are: mosquitoes are annoying insects that appear out of nowhere to feed on our blood and leave us grains that the more you remember them, the more they bite.

Summer is the favorite season of the year for this type of insects, since the hotter it is, the more determined they seem to be looking for the blood of every human being that is put ahead. The hottest months is almost impossible not to meet a mosquito on the road, but what about the coldest months?

To many, the arrival of the cold does not excite them at all, but as in everything, it also has its good side and the mosquitoes “disappear”. This occurs due to the survival strategy carried out by this type of insects. If on the one hand the mosquitoes die before the cold arrives due to their short average life, in general the female mosquitoes perform the diapause to survive the low temperatures.

Mosquitoes put diapause into practice

The diapause is a type of hibernation in which insects slow down their metabolism to survive for up to 6 months, even without water, hidden in a trunk or buried in the ground. The female mosquitoes specifically, perform this technique to protect themselves during the winter and thus when the temperatures have increased they can go out in search of blood and feed their eggs.

This fact shows us that mosquitoes do not disappear during the winter, but take refuge in those months to return to attack when temperatures rise. Even knowing this, there are some genera within the different mosquitoes that can even reproduce in the winter when they are underground, which results in even sneaking into our homes even in winter.