The Wonder of Mosquito Needle

ScienceTopping | Apr 24, 2023

Mosquito Needle

Mosquito proboscis consists of 6 thin needles.

IMAGE BY WikiImages/PIXABAY

Mosquito is one of the most annoying creatures ever in the world, craving endlessly for human blood like a evil vampire. Humans' attitude about mosquitoes becomes apparent with the invention of mosquito repellent and mosquito patch that are more than enough to dictate humans' assertion in getting rid of these annoying and horrifying creatures on Earth.

Everyone knows that mosquitoes use their needles to suck blood out from human body. The structures of mosquito needles are unique in nature, specifically designed to efficiently obtain their blood meals from a person or animal. Does a mosquito contain just one needle?

Mosquito's mouthpiece is called proboscis, which consists of 6 thin needles. Thus, mosquitoes actually use 6 needles to suck blood out from human body instead of one.

A Labrum – Pierce through blood vessels. [5 Hertz Vibration]
A pair of maxillae – Pierce through superficial skin. [15 Hertz Vibration]
A pair of mandibles – Hold tissues apart when piercing through the skin.
A hypopharynx – Drip mosquito saliva into human body.

These needles carry out their functions respectively in a way that none of these 6 needles can be left out for mosquitoes to achieve their ultimate goal. This is because each needle cooperates with one another to facilitate the action of sucking blood from human body. The last needle named hypopharynx in the list above functions to drip mosquito saliva into human body. The saliva of mosquito contains anticoagulant that prevents blood from coagulating when the blood is in contact with air for few seconds. Therefore, this needle is extremely important so that the blood flow does not stop. Up to this point, the "mosquitoes" that are mentioned all this while are referring to only female mosquitoes. It is important to note that male mosquitoes do not feed on mammals' blood. Males mosquitoes mainly feed on nectar and other plant juices, contributing to the green-colored body of the male mosquitoes. Female mosquitoes require the nutrients in blood in order to lay eggs.

Other than anticoagulant, female mosquitoes' saliva also contains numbing agent which alleviates the pain from the bite. This is the reason why we feel no pain from mosquito bites, but we do feel the itchiness after the bite.

Zooming out from the 6 tiny needles, the mosquito proboscis as a whole is another story of mystery. The distant end of the proboscis is relatively soft compared to the proximal end which is closer to the mosquito head. Thus, the softer distant tip of the proboscis causes almost no pain during the bite after it pierces through the skin. With this profound understanding in the structures of mosquito proboscis, an ideal injection needle has been devised, designed to have soft distal tip and hard proximal end. The ideal injection needle consists of double needles combined in one, with one used for blood suction and the other for numbing agent injection. Researchers have been working hard to actually start producing ideal injection needles in practical use, mainly targeting young children who have fear for pain. The wonder of mosquito needle has been demystified.

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