How do mosquitoes find and get their food? For how much time can they survive without food?
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2 Answers
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Only female mosquitos (of some, but not all species) need blood to reproduce, they find it by following cues that lead them to warm blooded animals. These include gradients of heat and CO₂. Pretty much all mosquitos feed on nectar and plants while they are adults...
As for how long they could survive without food, I don't know, but no longer than their normal lifespans of a few days to a couple of months as adult.
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$\begingroup$ This answer would be greatly improved by linking to some study on the matter $\endgroup$– nicoCommented Jul 22, 2013 at 7:18
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$\begingroup$ @nico yeah, but during a cursory search I couldn't find any addressing the question at hand, how frequently must a mosquito feed (for any species), and I suspect it is because the question is kind of moot... most people don't care about how often a mosquito must eat its adult food... much less important to a mammal than: just when do they bite us? $\endgroup$ Commented Jul 22, 2013 at 13:08
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$\begingroup$ blood seeking mosquitoes are attracted to CO2, lactic acid, and the bacteria that live in sweat (old sweat), physically active human emit all three. $\endgroup$– JohnCommented Apr 3, 2017 at 17:32
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Both Male and Female Mosquitoes feeds nectar and plant juice.
Only Female Mosquitoes feeds blood from Vertebrates. They find Lipid, protein from blood.
Lipid and Protein will help in nourishing egg nutrients. Their breeding proportionately increases with the amount of blood meal they intake.
I am not sure about their life expectancy without food.
