"Unto Adam [God] said, Because thou hast hearkened unto the voice of thy wife, and hast eaten of the tree, of which I commanded thee, saying, Thou shalt not eat of it: cursed is the ground for thy sake." Gen. 3:17
The week of constant rain has formed pools of water in ditches and other low spots. It has collected in the bottom of old tires and in empty cans along the roadsides. Standing water is where mosquitoes lay their eggs.
It only takes a day or two for a mosquito egg to hatch into a wriggler. It has a head on one end and a siphon for breathing on the other. It immediately begins to wriggle from the bottom of its watery home to the top. It takes in air with its siphon and then drops back to the bottom and repeats this cycle over and over. A wriggler eats small plants and small animals that live in the water.
After about a week, a wriggler changes into a thin-shelled pupa. It does not eat. In two to four days it is ready to shed its skin and become a fully developed adult mosquito. While in the pupa stage, it develops a breathing system that looks like tiny portholes along its body.
Rising to the surface, the skin on the pupa's back splits open. It then pumps air into its body through the portholes. This causes it to expand, making the opening wider. It soon pushes its head and front legs out and then pulls the rest of its body from the shell. The veins of its wings expand and open. It rests for a day on its floating shell, allowing its newly exposed body to harden. Then it takes off with the familiar hum of its wings. Another marvel of God's creation has been completed!
But not all eggs become mosquitoes. Many wrigglers become food for fish, ducks, frogs, turtles and other creatures. In Alaska young salmon eat them by the millions.
Only the female mosquitoes seek the blood of humans and animals. Inside her dagger-like beak, called a proboscis, are six needle-like stylets that stab into the skin to sip enough blood to satisfy her appetite.
Certainly mosquitoes are a problem for man and animal, but God has provided these remarkable little creatures to fulfill a place in the chain of life. The swelling and itch of a mosquito bite are reminders that sin has left its mark on all creation, marring it in many ways. Its loveliness will not be restored until a time to come when the Bible says the Lord Jesus Christ shall be acknowledged as "the blessed and only Potentate, the King of kings, and Lord of lords" (1 Tim. 6:15).
Before that time all who have accepted Him as their Lord and Savior will be called to heaven where He lives and where no sin will ever mar its wonders or the joy of those who are there. Will you be there?