Mosquitoes Bite!

Mosquitoes Bite!
Where and Why, and How to Avoid Them
Lauren Smolen

They look creepy. They love the dark. They want to suck your blood. While vampires do not exist (sorry to you Twilight fans!), there are blood-thirsty creatures in nature that after feeding leave you itching to get revenge—but probably with a fly swatter and not garlic or a wooden stake.

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What are they?

Mosquitoes (Spanish for “little fly”) have been around for more than 30 million years. Though small and seemingly insignificant, they are skilled and tactful hunters that use a combination of chemical, visual, and heat sensors to detect their prey. Quite a complex system for a critter than can so easily be crushed.

What’s their life cycle?

You have probably been told to stay out of thick woods to avoid getting “eaten alive” by mosquitoes. This is very good advice. Mosquitoes thrive in cool, damp areas because they are bred in water. Like all insects, they hatch from eggs and go through many stages of a life cycle before becoming adults. The females lay their eggs in water, where they transform from larva to pupa to flying land insects. Only female mosquitoes bite humans, because they need the protein in our blood to survive and produce more eggs.

Once adult mosquitoes find a mate, they mate and then feed. Male mosquitoes feed on plant nectar while female mosquitoes need to bite humans or animals to feed on their blood. After they feed, female mosquitoes lay their eggs and continue the cycle. Male mosquitoes tend to die a few days after they mate. The female mosquito can live for weeks (assuming she isn’t squashed by her angry prey).

What’s with the itch?!

It’s annoying enough that an insect is sucking your blood, but why does it have to itch? When the mosquito lands on your skin it pierces its proboscis (a thin, long and sharp “fang”) into you. As she sucks your blood she uses her saliva to increase your blood flow. Some saliva remains in the wound and your body responds by swelling around the wound and you itch. The swelling will go away as long as you avoid scratching, and the itch remains until your immune cells break down the saliva.
Why do they target me?!

Have you ever wondered why at a barbeque or bonfire you seem to be the only one being targeted by mosquitoes? Why while everyone else is having fun you’re busy swatting away these pesky insects? You might insist to the others that your blood is sweeter, but in fact, mosquitoes have no preference to blood type. They are attracted to certain chemicals in sweat, which is why you might find many of your bites on your neck and behind your elbows and knees. So actually, mosquitoes are attracted to you not because you’re the sweetest, but because you’re the sweatiest! (You may not wish to share that information…)

How do I repel them?

Mosquitoes are attracted to you if the colours you are wearing contrast with your background. They do not have good eyesight, so it is easier for mosquitoes to see you if you are wearing black and sitting on a light wood deck than if you are wearing green and laying in the grass. No matter what colour you decide to have on, wearing clothes that cover your entire body will help to block them from accessing your skin.

But if it’s too hot to be completely covered up, another way to repel mosquitoes is to apply insect repellent that contains NN-diethyl-meta-toluamide (DEET). DEET confuses their sensors and keeps them away. Make sure to reapply the repellent after swimming or excessive sweating. There are also ways to prevent mosquitoes from breeding. As explained earlier, mosquitoes breed in water. Eliminating standing water such as rainwater collected in tire swings, bird baths and containers will help control the mosquito population in your area.

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Mosquitoes are relentless and need your blood to survive. The best way to avoid being bitten is prevention using the tips outlined above. And let’s hope that mosquitoes don’t eventually evolve into their blood-thirsty, garlic-fearing fictitious counterparts—though it might make for a cool movie idea!



Sources
http://animals.howstuffworks.com/insects/mosquito.htm
http://www.sciencenewsforkids.org/articles/20040811/Feature1.asp
http://medent.usyd.edu.au/fact/mosquitoes.htm