Mosquito bites can be extremely uncomfortable if you spend any time outside during the warmer months. However, you might wonder why mosquitoes bite you. Well, there are several reasons why these mosquitoes bite you and create itchy spots on your skin that are difficult to ignore.
Please continue reading to learn more about why mosquitoes bite you and what you can do to minimize these bites. We will discuss everything you need to know about why mosquitoes bite.
Mosquitos Need Our Blood To Reproduce
The reason mosquitoes bite you is so that they can properly reproduce and create strong eggs. They need your blood to feed their protein requirements and produce eggs that will thrive and hatch. After a mosquito decides it will feed off you and pierce your skin using the proboscis on its head.
Unfortunately, these mosquito bites are unsafe and can lead to serious illnesses affecting your health. You can use bug spray to keep these insects away while you spend that time outside at night. You’re also less likely to be bitten during the day.
Female Mosquitos Feed Off Us
Knowing that only female mosquitoes bite human hosts for their blood can be helpful. A male mosquito will never bite you because they don’t have eggs to feed. Female mosquitoes use your blood to carry extra protein to their eggs and produce stronger larvae. However, it isn’t easy to know from the human eye whether or not a mosquito is male or female, so it’s best to avoid them altogether.
Both female and male mosquitoes also feed off plants, but female mosquitoes have higher protein requirements, so they’ll feed off humans too.
Higher Protein Requirements
Female mosquitoes cannot meet the protein requirements for their eggs by feeding off of plants alone. That is why a female mosquito feeds off human hosts and consumes their blood which will cause itchy spots on your skin. Male mosquitoes don’t even have the proper apparatus to Pierce human skin, so they couldn’t bite you if they wanted to.
Human blood is useless to male mosquitoes because they don’t have the same protein requirements as females for reproduction. Even lab-mutated male mosquitoes won’t be attracted to blood because they have no nutritional need.
Some People are More Prone To Mosquito Bites Than Others
Have you ever been out and noticed that you had been bitten up more than the people you’ve been outside with? You may notice more mosquito bites on yourself than others you spent time with outside because mosquitoes are more drawn to you. For instance, studies have shown that people with blood type O or blood type B are more likely to be mine by mosquitoes and other blood types.
You may also be bent up more by mosquitoes if you’re pregnant, have a higher body temperature, or sweat more often than the people around you. This makes your scent stronger to mosquitoes and draws them to you more often than others. However, even if you don’t have these characteristics, a mosquito will still bite you because they want your blood so it can reproduce.
Final Thoughts
The primary reason mosquitoes bite us is so that they can provide enough protein to their eggs and successfully reproduce. Female mosquitoes need more protein than male mosquitoes and have the correct apparatus to receive our blood. However, male mosquitoes have no way to get our blood, and they are not attracted to our blood because they only feed on plants. There’s also means that male mosquitoes don’t carry diseases because they have no way to spread illness to humans.
