Let's find out why mosquitoes feed on blood. Both male and female mosquitoes usually feed on nectar and plant juices but in many species the mouthparts of the females are adapted for piercing the skin of animal hosts and sucking their blood. The female needs to obtain nutrients from a blood meal before she can produce eggs. After a blood meal, she can produce more eggs.
Both plant materials and blood are useful sources of energy in the form of sugars. Blood supplies more concentrated nutrients such as lipids but the most important function of blood meals is to supply proteins as materials for egg production.
The female puts her life at risk when she is feeding on the host but she is good at dodging direct attacks. She tends to ignore side-to-side movements, so a resting female permits a finger to approach slowly if the finger moves several centimetres from side to side about once a second. With practice one can use this strategy to squash resting mosquitoes with high frequency.
You can treat a mosquito bite in the following ways:
Test Your Science
1. How does blood help the female mosquito in producing more eggs?
Read about the Crazy Mosquito in the Young Scientists Issue 115 Level 1.
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