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Under optimal conditions, the egg of an Aedes mosquito can hatch into a larva in less than a day. The larva then takes about four days to develop in a pupa, from which an adult mosquito will emerge after two days. Three days after the mosquito has bitten a person and taken in blood, it will lay eggs, and the cycle begins again.

Fast facts about the mosquito

Only the female aedes mosquito bites as it needs the protein in blood to develop its eggs. The mosquito becomes infective approximately 7 days after it has bitten a person carrying the virus. This is the extrinsic incubation period, during which time the virus replicates in the mosquito and reaches the salivary glands. Peak biting is at dawn and dusk. The average lifespan of an Aedes mosquito in Nature is 2 weeks The mosquito can lay eggs about 3 times in its lifetime, and about 100 eggs are produced each time. The eggs can lie dormant in dry conditions for up to about 9 months, after which they can hatch if exposed to favourable conditions, i.e. water and food

All mosquitoes must have water in which to complete their life cycle, however not all mosquitoes prefer the same conditions. Some mosquito larvae develop in polluted or brackish water environments and some prefer freshwater. Similarly, some mosquito species prefer to lay their eggs on small water bodies (eg. puddles, hoof prints or in small containers) whilst others prefer the shallow margins of larger water bodies. The type and number of breeding sites within any given area is a good indication of the types of vectors which may be present (and how abundant they are). 

This diversity of breeding preferences can be well illustrated by considering two important vector genera such as Anopheles (a genus which contains the malaria vectors) and Aedes (containing the major vectors of dengue and yellow fever):

·         Most species of Anopheles prefer clean, unpolluted water and larvae have been found in fresh or salt-water marshes, mangrove swamps, rice fields, grassy ditches, the edges of streams and rivers, and small, temporary rain pools. Many species prefer habitats with vegetation whilst others prefer habitats that have none. Some breed in open, sun-lit pools while others prefer shaded breeding sites in forests, tree holes or the leaf axils of some plants.

·         The major vector species within the genus Aedes (Aedes aegypti and Aedes albopictus) are recognised as container-breeding species, preferring small volumes of water (artificial or natural) and encompassing environments like rainwater in used tires, discarded tins and plastic containers, abandoned car parts, water-collecting trays under plant-pots and natural situations such as the water collected in dead leaves, tree holes, and rock pools.