They are a bigger killer than sharks, snakes and crocodiles, yet most people don’t know much about these deadly insects. Mosquitoes can drink up to three times their weight in blood. 1.2 million Mosquito bites would drain all the blood from an average human body. Mosquitoes can smell our breath. These flying parasites have the ability to carry and transmit diseases to humans. For the most part, mosquito bites are nothing more than an itchy nuisance that will go away on its after 24 hours. This isn’t the case for individuals with low immunity who often get exposed to life threatening ailments that can seriously threaten their lives.

There are around 113 species of mosquito known in Southern Africa. The food preferences of most species are plant juices. Only female mosquitoes suck blood. In certain species, even though both sexes are plant feeders, the female requires a ‘blood meal’ to enable her to develop and lay eggs. Much of the southern African region experiences summer rainfall from November to April. Mosquito breeding also peaks during these hotter and wet months, so that most mosquito populations are at their highest levels from about January to mid-April.