Why do mosquitoes drink blood?

Do all mosquitoes suck human What do mosquitoes do in

Only female mosquitoes take blood. blood? winter?
They use the protein and iron found Only a small number of mosquitoes Some species of mosquitoes can
in blood to make their eggs. feed primarily on humans. survive the winter. The mosquitoes
Females feed on nectar and water, Mosquitoes usually feed on birds, a can sense when the days are getting
just like males do. wide range of mammals, and even shorter and enter diapause.
How much blood does a female amphibians and reptiles. Diapause is a hibernation-like state
Mosquitoes in the genus that allows them to live off fat
mosquito drink per bite?
Female mosquitoes drink about 3 Toxorhynchites (toxo-rin-kite-ees) stores. Adult mosquitoes find warm
millionths of a liter, or 3 do not feed on blood at all. places to stay, like sewer drains, so
milligrams, of blood. Females use nectar to make their they do not freeze. Females do not
eggs. take blood or reproduce during this
How do you tell male from female time. Mosquitoes in diapause can
mosquitoes? How far can mosquitoes fly?
live for several months!
The easiest way is to look at the Most mosquitoes stay within 1-2
antennae. Male mosquitoes have miles of their larval (breeding) How many mosquito species are
very feathery antennae. They help habitat, but some can fly 20 miles there?
sense female mosquitoes high- away! There are about 2,700 species
pitched wingbeats (300-500 bps). worldwide, about 175 species in
What is the mosquito life cycle?
First, eggs hatch into larvae. They North America, and about 60
live in the water and feed on algae species in Illinois.
and bacteria. After the larvae are Can mosquitoes carry HIV or
Female mosquitoes have very plain fully developed, they hepatitis?
antennae sparsely covered in small metamorphose into pupae. Pupae No. Mosquitoes carry viruses and
hairs. do not eat at all. Larvae and pupae pathogens in their salivary glands.
live in the water, but they breathe In HIV and hepatitis, the virus does
Why do mosquito bites itch? air. Next, adult mosquitoes emerge, not replicate in the salivary glands,
Mosquito saliva contains several or hatch, from the pupae and rest so it cannot be injected into the next
enzymes and proteins that affect the on the surface of the water before host.
bodys clotting ability. Most people flying away.
are allergic to these enzymes. The How many people die from
itch and bump is our allergic mosquito-borne diseases per
response to them. year?
Worldwide estimates range from 1-
2 million people per year. The most
common disease is malaria. A
How long do mosquitoes live? single malarial mosquito can infect
In nature, female mosquitoes can more than 100 people.
live for a few weeks and males How common is West Nile Virus?
usually live for about a week. Life West Nile virus is found in over 60
How do mosquitoes find prey? span depends on temperature, mosquito species and over 200
Mosquitoes use a range of signals humidity and time of year.
to find their hosts, including vertebrates. The virus usually
movement, odor, carbon dioxide, How much does a mosquito cycles between Culex (cue-lex)
and body heat. weigh? mosquito species and common
About 2 to 2.5 milligrams for urban birds like American robins,
medium size mosquitoes. northern cardinals, and house
sparrows.