The life cycle of a mosquito includes an aquatic phase (larva and pupa stage), which lasts about a week in summer, and an aerial phase that corresponds to the winged insect. The mosquito stings only to obtain the food necessary to complete the development of its eggs. When we are bitten by a mosquito we can therefore be sure that it is a female and that she will then lay her eggs (a hundred) on a surface of water or near the water itself. From the hatching of these eggs will form then the larvae, the pupae and from these last will return to have the adult insect. The adult female can lay several times in her life.

The mosquitoes can be roughly divided into "country mosquitoes" and "city mosquitoes". These mosquitoes usually sting us at home or in the garden, because they come from small collections of water (manholes, under pots or bins) that surround our homes (see how to fight the tiger mosquito). The "country mosquitoes", on the other hand, usually lay their eggs in permanent waters such as ponds or marshlands, where normally, both in the water and in the air, there are natural predators of these insects.

Mosquitoes are feared insects because of their ability to transport diseases, but in Switzerland the human diseases that these insects could transport are not endemic. If a mosquito stings us, it only causes us the known and annoying itching. As a preventive measure, however, the health authorities monitor mosquito species such as tiger mosquitoes, which may be carriers of imported diseases.

 

 

In addition to the constant monitoring of the spread of these vectors on the territory of Ticino, the research also deals with the interventions necessary for their elimination or at least their containment through biological and/or chemical control, assessing the effectiveness and persistence of biological or chemical products used for this purpose.