Mosquito

Hello! My name might be small, but my family story is huge. I am a mosquito, and my ancestors have been around for a very long time. They were flying through the air about 100 million years ago, even when dinosaurs roamed the Earth! My own life started in a much quieter way. I was born from a tiny egg, one of hundreds all stuck together like a little raft, bobbing on the surface of some still water. You might think my life begins in the air, but it actually starts right in the water. My first stage of life is as a larva, a form that some people call a 'wriggler.' I spent my early days wiggling and swimming beneath the surface, exploring a world completely different from the one I would know later.

My time as a wriggler was like being in an underwater school. I had to learn how to find food and how to breathe. To breathe, I would swim to the surface and poke a tiny tube, like a snorkel, out of the water to get air. My meals were made of all the tiny bits of algae and other microorganisms I could find floating around me. After I ate and grew, my body knew it was time for the next big step. I changed into a pupa. During this time, I didn't eat at all; I just rested near the water's surface while my body went through an incredible transformation. When the moment was right, the most amazing thing happened. My pupa case split open along my back, and I slowly, carefully pulled myself out into the open air. I was now an adult with delicate wings, but they were wet and crumpled. I had to rest on the empty case, letting the sun and air dry my wings until they were strong enough for my very first flight.

Now that I could fly, my mission in life began. As a female mosquito, I have a very important job to do: lay eggs for the next generation. To get the right protein to make my eggs healthy and strong, I need a special meal of blood. It’s a common mix-up, but boy mosquitoes don't bite at all; they are happy to fly from flower to flower, sipping sweet nectar. I have amazing senses that help me find my meal. I can smell the carbon dioxide gas that you breathe out from very far away, which tells me a warm-blooded animal is nearby. For a long time, humans didn't understand everything about my family. But on August 20th, 1897, a British doctor named Ronald Ross made a big discovery. He found that some of my cousins could carry a disease called malaria, which helped people understand how to stay healthier.

My story might seem very small, but I have a big place in the world. I know my bite can be itchy and annoying, but my family is a very important part of the food web. We are a key food source for many animals. Frogs and fish gobble up my brothers and sisters when we are still wrigglers in the water. Once we can fly, hungry birds and bats swoop through the air to catch us for their dinner. By being food for others, we help keep the ecosystem in balance. And just like the boys, I sometimes sip nectar from flowers, too. When we do this, we help pollinate certain plants, including some very special kinds of orchids. My life is short, but I am a vital link in the beautiful, complicated web of life, connecting plants and animals in ways you might not expect.