Mosquitoes

Mosquitoes go through four stages in their life-cycle: egg, larva, pupa, and adult or
imago. Adult females lay their eggs in standing water, which can be a salt-marsh, a lake,
a puddle, a natural reservoir on a plant, or an artificial water container such as a plastic
bucket. The first three stages are aquatic and last !"# days, depending on the species
and the ambient temperature$ eggs hatch to become larvae, then pupae. The adult
mosquito emerges from the pupa as it floats at the water surface. Adults live for #!%
weeks.
&ike all insects, adult mosquitoes have three basic body parts:
Head - This is where all the sensors are, along with the biting apparatus. The head
has two compound eyes, antennae to sense chemicals and the mouth parts called
the palpus and the proboscis 'only females have the proboscis, for biting(.
Thorax - This segment is where the two wings and si) legs attach. *t contains the
flight muscles, compound heart, some nerve cell ganglia and trachioles .
Abdomen - This segment contains the digestive and e)cretory organs.
Mosquitoes have mouthparts that are adapted for piercing the skin of plants and animals.
+hile males typically feed on nectar and plant ,uices, the female needs to obtain nutrients
from a -blood meal- before she can produce eggs. +hen a mosquito bites, she uses two
tubes: one is an en.yme tube to prevent blood from clotting and the other to suck blood.
+hy does the bite itch/ The mosquito bite does not cause the itchy bump on the human
skin0it is the mosquito saliva that causes it.
1niversally, hematophagous arthropod saliva contains at least one anti-clotting, one
anti-platelet, and one vasodilatory substance.
Chemical sensors - mosquitoes can sense carbon dio)ide and lactic acid up to "22 feet
'34 meters( away. Mammals and birds gives off these gases as part of their normal
breathing. 5ertain chemicals in sweat also seem to attract mosquitoes 'people who don6t
sweat much don6t get nearly as many mosquito bites(.
Visual sensors - if you are wearing clothing that contrasts with the background, and
especially if you move while wearing that clothing, mosquitoes can see you and .ero in
on you. *t6s a good bet that anything moving is -alive-, and therefore full of blood, so this
is a good strategy.
Heat sensors - Mosquitoes can detect heat, so they can find warm-blooded mammals and
birds very easily once they get close enough.
7uick 8acts: There are more than 3,222 species of mosquitoes. A mosquito weighs 9.
milligrams '2.229 grams(. A mosquito flies at a speed of " to ". mph. Mosquitoes live
up to 4 months. A mosquito beats its wings 322-422 times per second making the
mosquito bu.. sound. A mosquito has #: teeth.
Vampire Bats
;ats make up about 9< of all mammal species. There are over ",222 bat species.
=nly three species of bats eat blood0these species are also known as vampire bats.
;ats are the only mammals that can fly, but vampire bats have an even more interesting
distinction0they are the only mammals that feed entirely on blood. Many bat species
cannot walk because of their thin legs. >owever, vampire bats can walk and ,ump.
These notorious bats sleep during the day in total darkness, suspended upside down from
the roofs of caves. They typically gather in colonies of about "22 animals, but sometimes
live in groups of ",222 or more. *n one year, a "22-bat colony can drink the blood of 9
cows. ?ampire bats only need blood to survive. *f they could not find blood within 9-3
days, they will die. A normal daily blood diet for a bat is about @ its body weight.
Auring the darkest part of the night, common vampire bats emerge to hunt. ;ats
echolocate: they use high pitched sounds to find their way in the dark. *f the sound hits an
ob,ect and echoes back, the bat knows the ob,ect is there. Bleeping cattle and horses are
their usual victims, but they have been known to feed on people as well. The bats drink
their victim6s blood for about 32 minutes. They don6t remove enough blood to harm their
host, but their bites can cause nasty infections and disease.
?ampire bats strike their victims from the ground. They land near their prey and
approach it on all fours. The bats have few teeth because of their liquid diet, but those
they have are ra.or sharp. Cach bat has a heat sensor on its nose that points it toward a
spot where warm blood is flowing ,ust beneath its victim6s skin. After putting the bite on
an animal, the vampire bat laps up the flowing blood with its tongue. *ts saliva prevents
the blood from clotting.
Doung vampire bats feed not on blood but on milk. They cling tightly to their mothers,
even in flight, and consume nothing but her milk for about three months.
The common vampire bat is found in the tropics of Me)ico, 5entral America, and Bouth
America.