Mosquitoes are a flying insect that belong to the Order Diptera and Family Culicidae. They undergo complete metamorphosis a process much like butterflies. Complete metamorphosis has 4 stages; egg, larva, pupa, and adult. Mosquitoes spend their egg, larva, and pupa stages in the water, three quarters of their life cycle. The last stage, the adult stage, is spent terrestrially on land and flying in the air.
Juvenile mosquitoes feed on nutrient particles in the water and adult flying mosquitoes feed on plant nectar and blood. Only female mosquitoes feed on blood, they need the nutrient rich blood to fuel the egg laying process.
Mosquitoes are an important insect because of its ability to transmit diseases. In Suffolk we are most concerned with West Nile Virus and Eastern Equine Encephalitis.