For instance, the beak is very important for determining what kind of food the bird can eat. The neck determines how flexible the animal can be in its search for food. Finally, the legs and feet determine how mobile an animal can be in its habitat. Even young children should be familiar with these buzzing, biting insects. Much more than pests, mosquitos form a vital link in the marsh food web, as they are food for other insects, fish and birds.
Mosquitos begin life as a single egg laid in the mud or on the surface of the water.
Female mosquitos lay their eggs by the hundreds. Rain or a high tide splashing the eggs triggers them to hatch. They filter this floating food from the water with bristle-like mouth parts. Mosquitos are insects and must breathe air, but they live under water for part of their life. Much as a person uses a snorkel to breathe air while under water, larval mosquitos have special body parts that work like snorkels to help them breathe.