Mosquito is by and large nature’s public enemy number one. When it comes to killing humans, no other creature even comes close. These guys go about their deadly business every day, spreading severe infections at sunrise, sunset, and during the night. They are only dormant at midday because direct sunlight can easily dehydrate them. Beware, however, as some species lurk around throughout the day and night.
There’s absolutely nothing good to say about mosquitoes. In fact, scientists concur that mosquito eradication would greatly benefit humanity without any significant downsides. Perhaps you’re wondering, do mosquitoes poop? Because these gothic flies eat and digest blood and nectar, they poop.
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Do Mosquitoes Pee?
If you google ‘do mosquitoes poop or pee?’ you will see a lot of claims that mosquitoes urinate and poop while they bite you, and that’s what causes swelling around the bite. There might be some truth in this claim.
Firstly, mosquitoes are quite small, with an adult weighing about 2.0 milligrams. Adult female mosquitoes drink more than 5 milligrams (almost triple their body weight) of blood in a single meal. Blood meals provide female mosquitoes with the nutrients required for egg production.
Female mosquitoes’ proboscis is strong enough to pierce human and animal skin. They suck so hard that the blood vessels begin to collapse. Some vessels break and spill blood into the surrounding areas, allowing the mosquito to feed easily.
Feeding on a host is a risky task as the insect can easily turn into potential prey. This is why mosquitoes ingest a high amount of blood in the shortest time (about 4 minutes) to minimize contact with predatory hosts. To avoid filling up on blood quickly, the female mosquito eliminates the excess water in the blood from her behind (‘pee’). This allows her to get most of the nutritional elements out of blood meals for her eggs.
Researchers have also found that ‘preurine’ helps cool down the insects to avoid overheating while they feed on blood. Mosquitoes are cold-blooded, and their temperature can easily warm up to 104 ℉, depending on the host. Hence, female mosquitoes excrete preurine through the anus two minutes after they start feeding.
Preurine is drops of freshly ingested blood from which the nourishing blood cells have not been extracted. Whenever drops of the fluid cling to the body, they evaporate like sweat, cooling the insect’s abdomen by nearly 4 degrees.
Do Mosquitoes Poop?
Unlike females, male mosquitoes do not feed on blood because their proboscis is not strong enough to pierce the skin. Hence, they solely feed on nectar, honeydew, plant sap, and other plant fluids. Female mosquitoes also occasionally feed on nectar between blood meals.
Mosquitoes and other small animals have developed an adaptation mechanism to conserve water in order to survive in dry habitats. Instead of kidneys, they use a network of tubes known as Malpighian tubules as their excretory organs.
These tubules remove excess nitrogen (nitrogenous waste) from digestive proteins and convert it into a white paste of uric acid. The paste travels further into the rectum, where any traces of water are removed, leaving behind a very dry ball. The ball then mixes with the indigestible portion of the insect’s diet before being excreted as ‘poop.’
Nectar-feeding mosquitoes often consume more water than is needed and expel the excess. It’s debatable whether this waste can be considered urine or diarrhea since insects only have one hole for removing waste. Technically, their poop and pee are combined and eliminated simultaneously in a semi-solid or liquid form.
4 Places to Spot Mosquito Poop
- Ankles
- Head
- At the back of the neck
- Any other exposed skin
What Causes Itching and Swelling Around Mosquito Bites?
Contrary to many claims, mosquito pee does not cause the allergic itch. Their saliva is the one responsible for this effect. When mosquitoes bite, they inject saliva into the body. This saliva serves mosquitoes well since it acts as an anticoagulant, which prevents blood from changing to a liquid or semi-liquid state.
Our bodies react to this saliva by producing histamine, which causes a mild allergic reaction. The most obvious symptom of this reaction is itchiness around the bite. This itchiness is not entirely a bad thing, as it helps people realize that they’ve been bitten. Hence, they can identify a possible cause should a severe ailment develop within a few days or weeks.
Note that some people have developed a tolerance for mosquito bites. Small doses of mosquito saliva over time can make some victims immune to it. These people may not even realize they have been bitten, and sometimes the skin may not swell up. However, others may be highly sensitive to mosquito bites, and their skin can develop an itchy rash, scabs, blisters, or bruises.
Mosquitoes ingest pathogens and transmit them to the next host during the bite. In this way, they transmit many severe diseases, including malaria, dengue fever, yellow fever, west Nile and Zika virus. Therefore, precautionary measures such as using insect repellent, keeping doors closed, and screening windows should be used to keep mosquitoes out of a home.
What Do Mosquitoes Eat?
There are more than 3,000 identified species of mosquito that inhabit different parts of the world. These species have a preference for different meals to nourish themselves. Both male and female mosquitoes use their proboscis to feed on flower nectar and other plants/fruit juices.
However, female mosquitoes have a more needle-like and much stronger proboscis. This allows them to pierce both human and animal skin to feed on blood which provides the irons and proteins needed to produce eggs.
Females feed on the blood of many vertebrate hosts, including birds, reptiles, amphibians, mammals, and even fish. However, some species prefer to feed on specific animals and will only bite them without bothering humans at all. Yet, some specialize in biting humans, while others are not picky and will bite anything that has blood.
What Attracts Mosquitoes?
There are many factors that attract mosquitoes to a host. For instance, carbon dioxide signals mosquitoes that a host is nearby. Humans breathe out carbon dioxide, making it easy for mosquitoes to locate us and steal our blood.
Other factors that can make you more attractive to mosquitoes include:
- Sweat: Mosquitoes are highly attracted to people who sweat a lot. That’s because they have a receptor in their antennae that allows them to detect lactic acid, which is found in human blood, and insects find it attractive.
- Potassium and salt: Like lactic acid, mosquitoes find potassium and salt very attractive. People who frequently eat foods high in potassium and salt, such as avocados and bananas, release a significant amount of these compounds, attracting mosquitoes.
- Alcohol: According to researchers, alcohol makes your body release specific chemicals that attract mosquitoes. In addition, alcohol tends to increase body temperatures, which mosquitoes find insanely attractive.
- Body temperatures: As mentioned above, mosquitoes are extremely attracted to high body temperatures. In fact, they can sense your heat from a few yards away.
- Blood type: A recent study found that people with blood group O are 83% more likely to attract mosquitoes than blood groups A and B.
- Dark clothing: Mosquitoes are more attracted to dark colors than light ones. They use their vision to locate a potential host from a distance, and people in dark clothing are more likely to be attacked.