Summer is officially here. I love being outdoors, working in my garden, playing with my animals, smelling the fresh air, basking in the sun, and enjoying nature of all kinds. But then, I soon discover things that make life miserable in summertime.
I’m not a fan of mowing, or sweating, or poison ivy, or any of the other bothersome things common in warm weather. But most of all, I hate getting bit by those pesky, good for nothing, bloodsucking, make me itch all over and miserable mosquitoes. When asked, “What’s the most dangerous creature on earth?” Without question the answer is: the mosquito.
Mosquitoes and the diseases they spread have been responsible for killing more people than all the wars in history. Even today, mosquitoes transmitting malaria kill 2 million to 3 million people and infect another 200 million or more every year. Tens of millions more are killed and debilitated by a host of other mosquito-borne diseases, including filariasis, yellow fever, dengue and encephalitis. With the zika virus scare, avoiding mosquito bites is in people’s minds more than ever. We usually say, "I have been bitten by a mosquito", but this is not completely true. Mosquitoes do not bite. Female mosquitoes feed on plant nectar and blood. They need the protein to reproduce. To get to the blood, they pierce our skin with their "proboscis" and suck our blood. Male mosquitoes feed exclusively on plant nectars. Mosquitoes are busiest at night and will fly up to 14 miles for a blood meal. They hunt for food by detecting body heat and Carbon Dioxide, the gas we breathe out.
There are more mosquitoes on this planet than humans. It’s probably not surprising that mosquitos outnumber humans. There are 100 trillion tiny buzzing vampires from 3,450 different species ready to suck your blood. Your blood helps create MORE mosquitoes. Only female mosquitoes bite, because blood provides the protein that mosquito eggs need for development. Consider yourself a walking bottle of mosquito baby formula. Yuck. Mosquitoes think you smell nice. It’s true! And it’s not just your fancy perfume.
Mosquitos are attracted to the scents emitted by humans including carbon dioxide, lactic acid and natural skin oils.
Mosquitoes even change their flight pattern depending on what they smell, like a heat-seeking missile. Mosquitoes inject you with their saliva. Before sucking your blood, the female mosquito injects you with her saliva, which contains an anticoagulant, allowing your blood to flow freely into her. If you’re wondering how mosquitoes transmit diseases – this is how. The little red bump you get from a mosquito bite is actually your body’s reaction to a protein contained in mosquito saliva. Mosquitoes transmit deadly diseases. You could say that giving people diseases is a mosquito’s favorite hobby. Mosquitoes are solely to blame for the propagation of Malaria, which affects 300 million people every year. The only way to get Malaria is from a mosquito bite. Mosquitoes also transmit West Nile Virus, commonly seen in the US.
The Center for Disease Control claims that since 1999 more than 30,000 people in the United States have become sick with the West Nile Virus from mosquito bites. Both Malaria and West Nile Virus can be fatal. I will continue this series on mosquitoes in my next post and show you how to fight back. Feel free to leave comments and be sure to hit “Like” at the bottom of this post.
