We are in the season, so thought some juicy
tidbits might be in order. Of the 3,000 species of mosquitoes
around the world, at least 150 are found in the United States,
and 85 of those can be found in Texas.
The female mosquitoes,
which are the ones that sting and suck blood, are the
transmitter of disease, and the deadliest animals in the world.
Each year, the malaria parasites they transmit kill 2 million to
3 million people and infect another 200 million or more. They
also spread pathogens that cause yellow fever, dengue fever,
Rift Valley fever, Chikungunya, and West Nile disease.
Not every species of
mosquito sucks blood from people, and among those that do, not
every one transmits disease. Males live entirely on nectar and
other plant fluids, and the females’ diet is primarily
plant-based, too. Most of the time, they only go after people
when they are ready to reproduce, because blood contains lipids,
proteins, and other nutrients needed for the production of eggs.
What you see sticking
out of a mosquito’s face is the labium, which sheaths the mouth
parts that really do all the work. The labium bends back when a
mosquito bites, allowing these other parts to pass through its
tip and do their thing. The sharp, pointed mandibles and
maxillae, which both come in pairs, are used to pierce the skin,
and the hollow hypopharynx and the labrum are used to deliver
saliva and draw blood, respectively.
The saliva that gets
pumped out from the hypopharynx during a bite is necessary to
reduce our blood’s tendency to clot. It contains a number of
chemicals that suppress vascular constriction, blood clotting,
and platelet aggregation.
An old wife's tale is
that you can flex a muscle close to the bite site or stretch
your skin taut so the mosquito cannot pull out its proboscis and
your blood pressure will fill the bug until it bursts. The
consensus among entomologists is that this is nonsense.