Why do only female mosquitoes bite?

comes heat in the northern hemisphere of the planet, and with it annoying mosquitoes. Without a doubt, these insects are one of the most hated items of this season of the year. Even the disease-intolerant ones are rather obnoxious due to their habit of consuming our blood like little vampires. But not everyone does it. We tend to generalize and think that any mosquito that flits around our house will be a source of bites, but the truth is that only females bite. Actually, their suction devices are very different. Males only need to absorb the nectar of flowers and fruits, while they have to suck our blood. But why?

The reason we are bitten by female mosquitoes is commendable because they for your offspring. Come on, the point is, if they didn’t, there might not be any offspring. It’s because for the formation of eggs high doses of protein are needed, and this is precisely what is lacking in the nectar that mosquitoes love so much.

For this reason, females have evolved to feed on a readily available source of protein: vertebrate blood. But here a doubt arises. Why do mosquitoes need their females to store protein from bites, while other insects don’t?

The essence of the principles

Mosquitoes are insects that enter through transformation of larvae into adults. Its larvae are aquatic and, as the professor of ecology explained Carlos Martin in a journal article methodThey live in very poor nutritional areas.

This is usually stagnant water, similar to a puddle or the remains of rain accumulated in a small boat. The larvae are ready for squeeze out these few available resources and with them quickly pass to adult mosquitoes. This is an advantage, yes, but the problem is that from now on, they will have practically no protein stores. Other insects have them too, so they don’t need to suck someone’s blood.

With nectar, mosquitoes get the energy they need to fly and survive, but if they need offspring they need protein. More specific amino acids build them. And that’s where bites.

Why dream of mosquito bites?

To lay eggs, mosquitoes need squirrels. These proteins, in turn, are built from a kind of building blocks known as amino acids.

The proteins present in our blood are not the same as those that make up eggs. However, when mosquitoes bite, they get these proteins, which are already broken down in their bodies to form only amino acids. The building blocks are then configured to give rise to specific proteins that they use in egg formationYes

It’s like we took a Lego structure and completely destroyed it. Various parts we receive can be used for build completely different objects.

It doesn’t make sense for males to do this. so only females bite. Therefore, although both have such a stem, known as proboscis, in females it is harder, as it is necessary that he be able to pierce the skin of the animal. In addition, their saliva contains vasodilators which increase blood flow mixed with compounds anticoagulants for it to run smoothly. They even contain anesthetics which prevent us from finishing them with a slap as soon as we notice a peck. Usually we feel the bite when this characteristic itch begins, which occurs precisely due to the effect of its saliva on our body.

In short, female mosquitoes bite us not to annoy us, but to perpetuate your appearance. Perhaps if we managed to negotiate with them and transfer all the reserves to them collagen pharmacies, these annoying relationships will end. It would be good for our pocket and they would have all the necessary amino acids. In general, they are useless to us.