641 Biology A mosquito passes through four stages in its life cycle. The stages are the egg, larva, pupa and adult. Eggs, larvae and pupae must have standing water to develop.
All larval stages resemble each other, except each is larger than the preceding one.
The first stage hatches from the egg and the fourth stage molts to become the pupa. Female mosquitoes lay their eggs on the water surface or in places that later become flooded. Eggs are laid singly or in batches of 50 to 400. Several batches may be laid by one female. Usually, bloodsucking females require a blood meal before producing each batch of eggs.