When are mosquitoes active?

The most important things in brief

• Most species of mosquitoes want to get our blood in the spring and summer.
• But some specimens even survive the colder seasons - they look for protective niches, like in houses and apartments.
• Regarding the time of day, the pests often become active in the evening and at night.
• However, there are also mosquitoes that are more likely to be out during the day. So we humans are never completely safe from the itchy bites.

Surely you know this phenomenon. Not a single mosquito in the apartment all evening, but as soon as you lay your head down and turn off the light, you hear that well-known, soft buzzing. First it's still a bit away, and the next moment it feels like the mosquito is just flying right around your head.

Mosquitoes use your breath as a guide

And that assumption is not wrong at all. In fact, the blood-sucking insects always seek proximity to their heads because they feel magically attracted to the carbon dioxide that you exhale with the air you breathe. Also, if you have blood type O or B and your partner in bed next to you doesn't, then that's quite annoying for you - it could be a restless night with lots of itchy mosquito bites the next morning. By the way, if you are willing to endure a brief moment of pain, a sting healer is a great help against the itch...

But back to the question of when mosquitoes become active. There cannot be a clear answer to this, because some species are actually out and about during the day to spoil our day at the lake or in nature. They particularly like to do this in areas with water, i.e. in floodplain landscapes and wetlands. But with sufficient insect repellent - for example with sprays - you can prevent the worst.

The house mosquito lies in wait for us in the evening

In contrast to the diurnal pests, which prefer to seek their victims in nature, the house mosquito looks forward to the onset of darkness. Above all, it is the cooling that suits her, because on a hot summer day the insects would overheat. When the evening chill descends over your four walls, the hunger or thirst of the stinging acrobats is great and they sound the attack.

Although, to be fair, one should speak of flight artists. Because the male mosquitoes are not after us humans, plant food is enough for them. The females, on the other hand, need proteins for reproduction or for the eggs they lay, and they get them from human blood. Incidentally, the animals don't wait for you to turn on the light on the terrace, they aren't attracted to it, as the saying goes. They are based on the carbon dioxide we breathe out, on the lactic acid produced by sweat and on our blood group.

Long clothing recommended

So it's hard to outrun the little beasts - they're everywhere and almost always a wing beat ahead of us. But there are ways and means to make mosquitoes less happy about us, for example by wearing long pant legs and long sleeves to offer as little a target as possible. Spray or rub insect repellent on uncovered skin, and not too sparingly. So you are already quite well armed against the attacks.