Wildlife: why do mosquitoes drink blood and why do they die?

Before I explain to you why mosquitoes drink blood, I want to introduce you into the general course of the matter. Perhaps, one of you, dear readers, still does not know, but not all mosquitoes suck blood. Some of them are nectar flavored (for example, males), others prefer to suck the juice from plants, and there are also species that do not feed at all (for example, the long-legged ones)! Usually these "herbivorous" mosquitoes gather outside the city in whole concentrations of tens and even hundreds of thousands of individuals! They are interpreted in one place, issuing a piercing sound, attracting females ... The mating period is expected. But about this some other time. Now we are interested in why mosquitoes drink blood, which means that we will talk about females. They are real vampires! It is they who do not give us rest with you either during the day or, even more so, at night! Why do mosquitoes drink blood?

So, only mosquito females bite man and animals. About the males there can be no question! "Bloody menu" is caused not by the vagaries of females, but by necessity! The fact is that our blood is rich in various nutrients, the most important of which is protein. For males, carbohydrates contained in sweet floral nectars are of the greatest interest. That's why we do not care!

The fact is that our protein is the building material required by the female for the production and normal development of its eggs. After all, vegetable food, as is known, is not rich in proteins. From the full consumption of the female mosquito of this "building material" in direct dependence is the entire cycle of laying her eggs. The more protein the mosquito consumed, the better its masonry. That's why a female can suck blood much more than her own weight (unless, of course, she is swatted). Of course, one should not think that the only explanation why mosquitoes drink blood is in their ability to reproduce. Eggs will be put off by the female in any case, but if she does not pump the right amount of blood, she will die the heroine's death: she will give her own proteins to the eggs at the cost of her life. However, if the blood from the point of view of the source of food is not at all accessible to mosquitoes, they will simply die out!

How do mosquitoes drink blood?

This process takes them exactly three minutes. For females there is no difference in who to bite - a person or an animal. Scientists have found out that mosquitoes do not just pierce the skin with their sharp proboscis, injecting into the blood a special liquid that prevents its coagulation, but fully control it, looking for capillaries. Only after the required capillary is found, the mosquito injects its saliva into it, which technically does not allow our blood to clot, and then begins to suck. By the way, that's why the mosquito bite is very itchy - the liquid causes irritation.

For what do mosquitoes die?

Usually, at such times, we are not at all interested in why mosquitoes drink blood. Their saliva is their own enemy! No matter how paradoxical this may sound, it is she who does not allow her insects to finish her business! When a mosquito drinks blood, then its saliva injected inside causes itching, causing unpleasant sensations to the person ... As a rule, the reaction follows immediately - we drive away a mosquito or even kill it. As a result, a person remains with an itchy tumor, and the mosquito does not "have supper", or even go to the forefathers at all! That's such an interesting "arithmetic," friends!