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Who says they survive cold winter climates? They die out in colder climates and migrate back from temperate climates. Mosquitos may not be killed by frost, bu

Who says they survive cold winter climates? They die out in colder climates and migrate back from temperate climates. Mosquitos may not be killed by frost, but frost is a layered phenomenon, a hard freeze definitely kills them.

lazide 4y ago
I’m pretty sure that the mosquitos that show up almost instantly when things thaw in Alaska and Canada aren’t migrating from warmer climates. That would be pretty impressive, but no way do they move that fast.
- Huh1337 4y ago
  Not impossible - things in Alaska and Canada thaw as the last, so the mosquitos could be already on their way long before the thawing there began. However what I think is happening is that their eggs are what survives of them, and they hatch out quickly.
- vraid 4y ago
  They can be very easy to miss as most of them piggyback on the great swarms of flying spiders, centipedes, and trees migrating north each year to repopulate the barren wastelands after the great freeze has killed all but the warm-blooded lifeforms.
- naravara 4y ago
  I have to imagine a non-trivial number of them survive in areas with human settlements. Maybe they start getting more active when it warms up.
  - lazide 4y ago
    Probably not - they’re far worse where there aren’t humans for hundreds of miles. Mosquitos in the tundra are insane [https://www.nationalgeographic.com/animals/article/150915-Arctic-mosquito-warming-caribou-Greenland-climate-CO2 https://www.nationalgeographic.com/animals/article/150915-Ar...]
    - naravara 4y ago
      Interesting. I had heard caribou herds basically choose migration routes to avoid them so that makes sense.
vraid 4y ago
> Who says they survive cold winter climates? Anyone who put even a minute of effort into looking up the well-researched and publicly available information on the topic rather than defaulting to ignorance could have told you this. Insects have numerous different strategies to make it through cold winters, either as eggs, larvae, or adults. Some can tolerate partial freezing, some lower the freezing temperature of their bodies in order not to freeze at subzero temperatures. These are combined with finding shelter inside tree stumps or bark, under leaves or rocks, or even underwater, granting them a layer of insulation and protection from the wind and the worst cold. Here's a good starting point for those interested https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Insect_winter_ecology#Cold_tolerance https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Insect_winter_ecology#Cold_tol...

lazide 4y ago

I’m pretty sure that the mosquitos that show up almost instantly when things thaw in Alaska and Canada aren’t migrating from warmer climates. That would be pretty impressive, but no way do they move that fast.

Huh1337 4y ago
Not impossible - things in Alaska and Canada thaw as the last, so the mosquitos could be already on their way long before the thawing there began. However what I think is happening is that their eggs are what survives of them, and they hatch out quickly.
vraid 4y ago
They can be very easy to miss as most of them piggyback on the great swarms of flying spiders, centipedes, and trees migrating north each year to repopulate the barren wastelands after the great freeze has killed all but the warm-blooded lifeforms.
naravara 4y ago
I have to imagine a non-trivial number of them survive in areas with human settlements. Maybe they start getting more active when it warms up.
- lazide 4y ago
  Probably not - they’re far worse where there aren’t humans for hundreds of miles. Mosquitos in the tundra are insane [https://www.nationalgeographic.com/animals/article/150915-Arctic-mosquito-warming-caribou-Greenland-climate-CO2 https://www.nationalgeographic.com/animals/article/150915-Ar...]
  - naravara 4y ago
    Interesting. I had heard caribou herds basically choose migration routes to avoid them so that makes sense.

vraid 4y ago

> Who says they survive cold winter climates? Anyone who put even a minute of effort into looking up the well-researched and publicly available information on the topic rather than defaulting to ignorance could have told you this. Insects have numerous different strategies to make it through cold winters, either as eggs, larvae, or adults. Some can tolerate partial freezing, some lower the freezing temperature of their bodies in order not to freeze at subzero temperatures. These are combined with finding shelter inside tree stumps or bark, under leaves or rocks, or even underwater, granting them a layer of insulation and protection from the wind and the worst cold. Here's a good starting point for those interested https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Insect_winter_ecology#Cold_tolerance https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Insect_winter_ecology#Cold_tol...