How do mosquitoes take a “blood meal”?
Mosquitoes have a piercing and sucking mouthpart called a proboscis. Female mosquitoes have six parts to their proboscis. There are two tubes in the middle surrounded by four cutting instruments known as lancets. As the mosquito pierces the skin of her victim, she injects her saliva into the wound. When she reaches a blood capillary, she uses the other tube to suck up the blood. Why does the female inject saliva when she takes a blood meal? Mosquito saliva contains an anesthetic to numb the wound, so you don’t realize you’re being bitten. It also contains an anticoagulant to thin the blood so she can suck up blood in a shorter period of time. Why do mosquito bites itch and get red and swollen? Most animals and humans are allergic to mosquito saliva. How do mosquitoes find someone to bite? Female mosquitoes use smell to find their victims. They are sensitive to carbon dioxide (which all red-blooded animals exhale), lactic acid and skin oils. The victim’s heat also attracts them. How do
