. Earth Science News .
FLORA AND FAUNA
Mosquitoes: can't live with 'em, can't live without 'em
By Catherine HOURS, Marlowe HOOD
Paris (AFP) April 19, 2016


Mozzies. Skeeters. Stingers. Whatever you call them, mosquitoes don't get much love from our species.

And why should they? The buzzing bloodsuckers make us miserable and sick, and would appear to be devoid of any redeeming qualities.

But they are pretty amazing. Mosquitos, let it be said, are...

...primeval and deadly

Mosquitoes were annoying velociraptors and stegosauruses long before a giant meteor wiped out the dinosaurs at the end of the Cretaceous period. The oldest confirmed mozzie fossil is nearly 100 million years old.

Our nagging nemesis is also the most lethal creature in the world, responsible for more than a million human deaths every year, mostly children.

The Anopheles genus carries malaria, which killed some 600,000 people in 2015, according to the World Health Organization.

It also causes painful and sometimes deadly ringworm in dogs, and gathers in swarms thick enough to choke a caribou.

Members of the Aedes genus, meanwhile, spread yellow fever, West Nile virus, dengue, chikungunya, and the Zika virus, which scientists recently confirmed causes severe malformations of foetus brains. Others provoke various strains of encephalitis.

There are some 3,500 species in all.

...invasive and nomadic

They are everywhere except Antarctica. With a little help from us, mosquitoes are also highly mobile.

Hitching rides in luggage, cars, cargo ships and planes, many species have spread across the planet thanks to globalisation.

Old tyres and "lucky bamboo" plants are two of their favourite modes of transportation.

One species, Aedes albopictus, has colonised 20 countries in Europe in just the last 25 years, an expansion said to have been helped by global warming.

But skeeters don't move unless they have to.

"If you live next to a place where you are breeding mosquitoes, then they will not go two kilometres (1.2 miles) to find a blood meal, they will go 10 metres (33 feet) from the breeding place to you," explains Eskild Petersen, a professor of tropical diseases at Aarhus University in Denmark.

They have a short travel span of a few hundred metres, and a lifespan of about two weeks.

And while their wings beat up to 500 times per second, mosquitoes only fly at speeds of about two kilometres per hour.

Salt marsh mosquitos, however, can voyage up to 170 kilometres (100 miles) from their larval breeding ground in search of a meal.

...sexually dimorphous

Which means that males and females are different. Very different.

Only the female -- in search of protein for her eggs -- consumes blood. Her sometimes virus-infected saliva contains an anti-coagulant to keep things flowing in both directions through her needle-like proboscis.

Males, meanwhile, are vegans, and only sip flower nectar. Whether that is why they only live half as long is unclear.

...useful

"Whatever else they are, mosquitoes have their place in ecosystems," Fabrice Chandre, an expert on insect vectors at the Research Institute for Development in Montpellier, says somewhat grudgingly.

As waterbound larvae, mosquitos are filter feeders that consume single-cell algae, and are in turn a favoured food for fish.

As adults, they are tasty snacks for birds, bats and spiders. Weighing in at two to 10 milligrammes it takes a lot to make a meal. But then again, there are a lot of mosquitoes in the world.

Male mosquitos are important plant pollinators.

...and indestructible

Since the invention of the insecticide DDT in 1939, humans have been trying to wipe mozzies off the face of the Earth. But the insects get used to every new generation of poison, rebounding stronger than ever.

"We simply can't eradicate mosquitos," says Anna-Bella Failloux, an entomologist and mosquito expert at the Institut Pasteur in Paris.

But that doesn't mean we won't keep trying.


Thanks for being here;
We need your help. The SpaceDaily news network continues to grow but revenues have never been harder to maintain.

With the rise of Ad Blockers, and Facebook - our traditional revenue sources via quality network advertising continues to decline. And unlike so many other news sites, we don't have a paywall - with those annoying usernames and passwords.

Our news coverage takes time and effort to publish 365 days a year.

If you find our news sites informative and useful then please consider becoming a regular supporter or for now make a one off contribution.
SpaceDaily Contributor
$5 Billed Once


credit card or paypal
SpaceDaily Monthly Supporter
$5 Billed Monthly


paypal only


.


Related Links
Darwin Today At TerraDaily.com






Comment on this article via your Facebook, Yahoo, AOL, Hotmail login.

Share this article via these popular social media networks
del.icio.usdel.icio.us DiggDigg RedditReddit GoogleGoogle

Previous Report
FLORA AND FAUNA
Madagascar yields three new primate species
Antananarivo, Madagascar (UPI) Apr 15, 2016
Scientists have found three new species of mouse lemur in the forests of Madagascar, a large island nation off Africa's southeastern coast. The newly named creatures, described in the journal Molecular Ecology, bring the total number of mouse lemur species to 24. Mouse lemurs are only found in Madagascar. Though rodent-like in appearance, lemurs are nocturnal primates - more clo ... read more


FLORA AND FAUNA
Defying radiation, elderly residents cling on in Chernobyl

Ukraine to mark 30 years since Chernobyl shook the world

Japan battles to care for 100,000 evacuees after quake

Social networks offer comfort, confusion in Japan quake

FLORA AND FAUNA
Topology explains queer electrical current boost in non-magnetic metal

Elusive state of superconducting matter discovered after 50 years

Clearing the way for real-world applications of superhydrophobic surfaces

Airbus wins contract for solid state recorder on NASA-ISRO SAR Mission

FLORA AND FAUNA
Kayakers protest Balkans 'dam tsunami' in lake paddle

Gripped by drought, Ethiopia drills for water

Chemical weathering controls erosion rates in rivers

Storms leave three million without water in Chile capital

FLORA AND FAUNA
Ice streams can be slowed down by gas hydrates

Satellite images reveal dramatic tropical glacier retreat

Heat wave triggers Greenland's ice melting season two months early

Twentieth century warming allowed moose to colonize the Alaskan tundra

FLORA AND FAUNA
China wields increasing power in world wine market: study

Spreading seeds by human migration

Rising CO2 levels reduce protein in crucial pollen source for bees

Growth of GM crops slows for first time in 20 years

FLORA AND FAUNA
Japanese map tracks the last moments of the victims of 2011 tsunami

Bubbles lead to disaster

Mexico volcano spits ash on towns

Japan plants shut down after quake, fuels economic fears

FLORA AND FAUNA
South Sudan rebel chief's return delayed

Ivory trucks arrive in Kenyan capital for mass burning

Two Somalia drone strikes kill about 12 militants: US

Taiwan says Kenya police broke down jail walls to forcibly deport Taiwanese

FLORA AND FAUNA
Are humans the new supercomputer

Brain observed filing memories during sleep

Study: Some words sound farther away than others

Study: Electrical brain stimulation enhances creativity









The content herein, unless otherwise known to be public domain, are Copyright 1995-2024 - Space Media Network. All websites are published in Australia and are solely subject to Australian law and governed by Fair Use principals for news reporting and research purposes. AFP, UPI and IANS news wire stories are copyright Agence France-Presse, United Press International and Indo-Asia News Service. ESA news reports are copyright European Space Agency. All NASA sourced material is public domain. Additional copyrights may apply in whole or part to other bona fide parties. All articles labeled "by Staff Writers" include reports supplied to Space Media Network by industry news wires, PR agencies, corporate press officers and the like. Such articles are individually curated and edited by Space Media Network staff on the basis of the report's information value to our industry and professional readership. Advertising does not imply endorsement, agreement or approval of any opinions, statements or information provided by Space Media Network on any Web page published or hosted by Space Media Network. General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR) Statement Our advertisers use various cookies and the like to deliver the best ad banner available at one time. All network advertising suppliers have GDPR policies (Legitimate Interest) that conform with EU regulations for data collection. By using our websites you consent to cookie based advertising. If you do not agree with this then you must stop using the websites from May 25, 2018. Privacy Statement. Additional information can be found here at About Us.