The Life Cycle of the Mosquito
Mosquitoes live dangerous lives and suffer from multiple handicaps such as being fragile and poor flyers. Females must risk it all when they approach humans or other food source for a blood-meal. To avoid being squashed, mosquitoes deploy multiple senses such as the detection of spectral information to avoid exposed lighted areas, air pressure to avoid movement, heat to detect hosts and hormone chemicals (taste & smell) to select a suitable dinner plate. The sense of smell is however their main sensory to identify and locate a wide variety of resources.
Mosquitoes are both aquatic (larval stage) and terrestrial (adult stage) insects. The life cycle begins with eggs, MANY EGGS!
Larvae live a simple life mostly consisting of grazing on plankton, dead larvae and decomposing plant matter. They also exhibit escape behavior under the perception of threat such as fish and predator insects. It only takes a few days under optimal conditions for the larvae to pupate and emerge as adults.
Adults rest, look for sugar sources such as nectar, locate human habitats, mate, seek a blood meal, identify suitable breeding sites so the cycle continues.