Mosquitoes are truly the night terrors of the sky. Not only do they keep you awake at night with their shrieking sound, but they feast on you as if you were a Bloody Mary cocktail on a hot summer’s day!
Mosquitoes aren’t the only insects that feed on animals and humans for blood, but most definitely the most commonplace. We looked at facts about and why mosquitoes feed on blood and what would happen if they went without.
What drives their blood thirst?
Mosquitoes are the world’s deadliest animals, transmitting diseases that kill hundreds of thousands of people annually. Only the females bite, to acquire protein to make their eggs. But blood can also serve as a refreshing beverage on a hot, dry day.
A new study finds that dehydrated mosquitoes are more aggressive, land more often on hosts and feed more frequently than those with ready access to water.
What would happen if mosquitoes stop feasting on blood?
Adult mosquitoes require sugar, which they normally get from nectar, fruit juice, and plant sap. Therefore, depriving the mosquitoes on your property access to blood will not cause them to starve. However, it might stop — or at least slow down — their reproductive cycle.
Can you blow up a mosquito by flexing your muscle?
Some people believe that you can make a mosquito explode if you flex your muscle while they are feasting on you. Fake news alert! You can’t create enough pressure to keep the mosquito stinger in your arm until the abdomen bursts.
Mosquitoes Use Six Needles to Suck Your Blood!
What scientists have recently discovered is that once a mosquito’s proboscis pierces the skin, one of its six needles, called the labrum, uses receptors on its tip to find a blood vessel.
“Those receptors responded to the chemicals in the blood,” said UC Davis biochemist Walter Leal, whose lab made the finding. “Mosquitoes don’t find the blood vessel randomly.”
Do Mosquitoes Prefer Certain Types of Blood?
Although mosquitoes aren’t the pickiest eaters in the world, they do prefer some blood types more than others. Mosquitoes can smell a person’s blood type before taking a bite. Those of us with Type O blood, for instance, are a particularly tasty treat. Pregnant women also seem to get more mosquito bites than other people. And anyone who sweats a lot may produce pheromones that attract mosquitoes.
Mosquitos are by far the deadliest creature in the world when it comes to annual human deaths, causing around one million deaths per year, compared to 100,000 deaths from snakes and 250 from lions.
Rather be safe than sorry. If you have a mosquito infestation that you cannot get under control, contact Service Master to assess and quote on the best mosquito control solutions.
Sources:
- Scientificamerican.com
- Kqed.org
- Mosquitojoe.com
