Why are all the mosquitoes that suck human blood in summer female?

There are about 3,000 species of mosquitoes worldwide. It is a small flying insect with stinging and sucking mouthparts. Usually females feed on blood, while males suck the sap of plants.

Blood-sucking female mosquitoes are intermediate hosts for other pathogens such as dengue, malaria, yellow fever, filariasis, Japanese encephalitis, etc. Mosquitoes are found on all continents except Antarctica. Among them, the genera Anopheles, Aedes and Culex are the most famous.

There are thousands of species of mosquitoes, but only a few are truly harmful to humans. Mosquitoes usually feed on nectar or plant sap, and although we have never seen mosquitoes suck nectar, in fact, male mosquitoes only suck nectar and do not suck blood throughout their lives. Female mosquitoes suck blood for the need to lay eggs, and they must feed on human or animal blood for the eggs to mature.

Mosquitoes in the wild feed on human or animal blood, but what about mosquitoes in the lab?

In fact, it is very simple, as soon as the time comes, the staff will stretch their arms into the terrarium without hesitation and let the mosquitoes suck it happily. Although it makes people itch all over the body when they hear it, it is said that this way of sacrificing one's body to raise mosquitoes is not as terrible as imagined.

It is believed that the ancestor of mosquitoes evolved in the Jurassic period hundreds of millions of years ago. The earliest fossil evidence is found in Cretaceous rock formations. The first area where mosquitoes evolved was in present-day South America, then gradually migrated north to the ancient continent of Laoa, and then south to the tropics.

The ancestors of mosquitoes are about three times the size of the extant species and are closely related to the family Phenoidae.

In addition, scientists have concluded that mosquitoes don't love the smell of your latest perfume, the color of your clothes, or your body temperature, diet, or environment, but your genes.

In this way, it seems that the itching after we are bitten by mosquitoes is not the original intention of mosquitoes, but the self-protection behavior of the human body.

We are not helpless against this mosquito pack and itching.

YesWash with soap and warm waterApply an ice pack to the cold, orTopical application of calamine lotionto alleviate it.

Because male and female mosquitoes eat different foods, male mosquitoes tend to eat plant juice.

Female mosquitoes feed on blood, mainly to absorb proteins from the blood and obtain nutrients to reproduce their offspring, while male mosquitoes mainly feed on nectar.

Because summer is the breeding season for mosquitoes, female mosquitoes need a lot of nutrients and food to breed baby mosquitoes, so it is female mosquitoes that suck human blood in summer.

01 Animal blood contains concentrated sugar, fat and protein, and the hemoglobin in the blood can promote the development of ovaries, the maturation of eggs, and the increase in egg production of female mosquitoes. In order to reproduce offspring, female mosquitoes have to risk their lives to be shot to death at any time to suck their blood.

Almost everyone has been bitten by a mosquito. However, what is puzzling is why it is the female mosquitoes that suck blood?

We know that mosquito eggs, larvae, and pupae live in still water bodies, and that both male and female adults can sustain themselves by sucking on plant sap and nectar. However, there is a lack of protein in these foods to meet the nutritional needs of female mosquitoes for ovarian development. Animal blood contains concentrated sugars, fats, and proteins, and the hemoglobin in the blood can promote ovarian development, egg maturation, and increased egg production in female mosquitoes.

In order to reproduce offspring, female mosquitoes have to risk their lives to be shot to death at any time to suck their blood. The male mosquito is not responsible for laying eggs, and can survive for about a week by sucking nectar or dew, and after mating, it completes its historical mission, so there is no need to take the same risk to suck blood and replenish nutrition.

The different feeding habits of male and female mosquitoes are adapted to the needle-like mouthparts (mouths) of Diptera mosquitoes, and the specialized mouthparts structure of female mosquitoes fully supports its blood-sucking function. The mouthparts adapted to blood sucking are composed of six well-developed mouth needles, which are specialized by one upper lip, two upper mouths, two lower jaws and one tongue, in which the inner wall of the upper lip mouth needle is concave to form a food channel, and the middle is a hollow tongue needle to form a saliva channel. When sucking blood, the lower lip is bent back first, and the needle cluster is held with its end lip flap, and the lower jaw mouth needle is pierced into the person's ** first, and then other mouth needles are punctured alternately until they reach the microvessels to suck blood.

Due to the lack of blood-sucking function, the mouth needle of the male mosquito is degraded, and the jaw mouth needle is short and weak, and cannot pierce the human **.