Mosquitoes are tiny pesky creatures that seem to love to bite humans.
In fact, mosquitoes are responsible for transmitting some of the world’s deadliest diseases, including malaria, dengue, Chikungunya virus, West Nile virus, and the Zika virus.
Thankfully, mosquitoes have a certain break time where they are inactive and would stop biting.
During the late morning and afternoon hours, mosquitoes are the least active. It’s usually mosquito-free when the sun is up high in the sky.
However, it is not only about a specific time of the day but about temperature levels as well.
Due to their inability to regulate their body heat and temperature, they become lethargic and inactive at 60 degrees F and cannot function below 50 degrees F.
At the end of a long day spent outdoors, there’s nothing quite as frustrating as finding yourself covered in mosquito bites.
To avoid mosquito bites and the diseases mosquitoes carry, it’s important to know a little bit about their feeding habits like the time they stop biting and the temperature at which they become inactive.
What Time of the Day Do Mosquitoes Stop Biting
These bloodsuckers prefer to come out in the early morning dawn and resume their activities in the evening as the sun begins to disappear.
Just like people who avoid the hottest part of the day, mosquitoes do not prefer a hot summer day either. They avoid too much exposure to the sun because it dehydrates and eventually kills them.
These little vampires are most likely to stop biting at midday when the sun and heat are at their peak.
However, mosquitoes that are indoors, are exceptions because they tend to stay active longer. This is because the temperature and light controls may be different from outdoor conditions.
What Time of the Night Do Mosquitoes Stop Biting
To avoid dehydration from sun exposure, mosquitoes would venture out from sundown to sunrise to feed and breed. They would seek cool, shaded, and wet areas for protection from the sun. As soon as they stir from their hiding spots, they start biting.
After a night of bloodsucking, they will look for a place to retire, usually before dawn. If you’re lucky and the mosquito is already full, it will bite less and eventually stop biting even before dawn.
Do Mosquitoes Stop Biting at Night
Most of these pesky bugs are active at night when they can feast on their unsuspecting victims. They are the perfect representation of the expression “from dusk till dawn” because these are the times when they are actively feeding.
Luckily, they sometimes stop biting at night. Even though they take a break in the late morning until the afternoon, they will make an early exit before dawn if they have already filled up themselves with delicious blood.
At What Temperature Do Mosquitoes Become Inactive
Mosquitoes, despite their modest size, make excellent use of their adaptability to a variety of temperatures.
One of their key strengths is that they can survive in both warm and cold climates. This is possible because they can perfectly adjust to their environment and survive in diverse temperatures.
They become inactive when it’s too hot to seek shelter and prevent themselves from getting dehydrated.
They go into hibernation when it’s too cold to protect themselves and will resume activity once it gets warmer. Their inactivity only means that they are trying to survive and they surely have their ways.
Cold Temperature
Some species of mosquitoes die off during the colder months while others will hibernate. This is because as the temperature starts to dip, they become less active and their metabolism slows down.
They would need to find a place that can protect them from the cold so they can survive until the temperature rises again.
For those that don’t hibernate, mosquitoes become lethargic and dormant at 60 degrees Fahrenheit and cannot function below 50 degrees Fahrenheit.
Their activity will significantly reduce whenever the temperature drops. This is because they are cold-blooded creatures and their body temperature would be the same as their surroundings.
So when it starts to get chilly, they become sluggish which results in less to no activity.
Hot Temperature
Since mosquitoes are cold-blooded, when the weather is warm, they become more active because their metabolism speeds up. However, there is a limit to how hot it can get before they start to feel the effects.
These annoying and bothersome creatures also avoid too much heat.
They usually thrive and are more active in temperatures above 80 degrees Fahrenheit but if it gets too hot and too dry, they will not be as active and feeding as they generally are because they start to experience heat stress.
They would look for shady and cooler areas to avoid being in direct sunlight which could eventually kill them. When it becomes cooler at night, they will become more active and start to bite.
Extreme heat and no humidity will dehydrate them and eventually cause their death, hence, the inactivity.
Final Thoughts
Though mosquitoes are small, their ability to thrive in different conditions and temperatures is definitely one of their strong suits.
These cold-blooded creatures rely on environmental cues such as temperature and other conditions to regulate their body temperature.
They do not feed 24/7 and would eventually stop at some point whether it be morning or night, hot or cold.
They stop feasting on humans at midday when it’s too hot and the sun is up high and stop at night only when they are full and their hunger is satiated.
When the temperature is too high and it’s extremely hot, they become lethargic which would mean less activity. On the other hand, if the temperature is too low and it’s freezing cold, they would go into hibernation which also means decreased activity and biting.
These bothersome flying insects would only resume when the conditions are ideal and perfect for them to thrive and flourish.
It wouldn’t hurt to be extra cautious but mosquito bites would. Knowing when mosquitoes stop biting and the temperature at which they become inactive is advantageous and can help you avoid them altogether to keep yourself from becoming a mosquito’s next meal.
