MOSQUITO KNOW-HOW
The 51 species of mosquitoes in Massachusetts notwithstanding, the ladybug is our state insect, according to State Secretary William Frances Galvin's Web site. A second grade class in the Town of Franklin came up with the idea in 1974 that the two-spotted lady beetle best represents the Massachusetts insect world.

For the 51 less popular, yet much more notorious mosquito species, there exists a swarm of tantalizing tidbits and facts including:

• Not all mosquitoes bite or need blood to live and lay eggs;

• Once fed, the average lifespan of a female mosquito is three to 100 days while the male, which feeds on nectar and fruit juices, lives just 10 to 20 days;

• Females use infrared vision and carbon dioxide detection to find mammals to munch upon;

• Females lay 100 to 300 eggs at one time, and 1,000 to 3,000 eggs in their short lives;

• From egg to adult takes two to 14 days;

• Although many species stay within one mile of where they hatch, some commute up to 20 miles for food and sex;

• There are 140 species of mosquitoes on earth.

- Courtesy of the Ivy Hall School, Buffalo, Ill.