In the hot summer, the most enjoyable thing is to sit in the room with the air conditioner blowing, eating watermelon and watching TV shows. The only annoying thing is the "summer fighter" that appears from time to time - mosquitoes. No matter how many years have passed, no matter how many high technologies humans have invented, mosquitoes will always be an existence that "mosquito incense cannot be burned out, and the summer wind blows them again".
The footprints of mosquitoes can be found in almost every corner of the earth, but do you know how many years mosquitoes have been around? What is its life really like? Today we are going to talk about mosquitoes. Only by knowing ourselves and our enemies can we win every battle!
The history of mosquitoes can be traced back to the age of dinosaurs. The earliest mosquito fossils discovered appeared in the Cretaceous rock layers. According to research by scientists, the ancestors of mosquitoes appeared as early as 170 million years ago in the Jurassic era. Mosquitoes in ancient times were not as small as they are today. In the ancient earth where giant beasts were rampant, mosquitoes also grew to huge proportions. They generally grew to about 10 centimeters, and some mosquitoes even reached 40 centimeters in length.
As the oxygen content of the earth gradually decreases, the size of mosquitoes gradually becomes smaller. Otherwise, if a group of 10cm mosquitoes flies towards you, you will have to worry about whether you will be sucked dry.
But having said that, in fact, blood is not the staple food of mosquitoes. There are more than 3,000 known species of mosquitoes in the world, but only 80 of them can suck human blood. Most mosquitoes feed on nectar and grass juice, playing the role of hard-working bees and butterflies.
As for the species that suck human blood, not all mosquitoes suck blood for three meals a day. Male mosquitoes are vegetarians throughout their lives and live by sucking nectar. Only female mosquitoes suck blood when they are breeding the next generation. , because the blood of humans and animals contains nutrients that can promote the maturity of mosquito eggs, just like humans need to supplement various vitamins during pregnancy.
It seems that human blood-sucking mosquitoes only account for a very small part of the mosquito army, so why are we still bitten by mosquitoes every day? Let’s start with the powerful reproduction system of mosquitoes.
Each mosquito can only mate once in its life. The male mosquito dies about 10 days after mating is completed, but the female mosquito can continue to survive for 1-2 months, and this mating allows it to unlock the ability to lay eggs. After that, they can live until they die without mating. A female mosquito can lay a clutch of eggs every time it takes a full blood meal. During its subsequent life cycle, it can lay a total of 1,000-3,000 eggs.
It only takes one to two days for these eggs to hatch into larvae in the water, also called larvae . They will turn into pupae in 5-7 days, and then turn into adults in 2-3 days. Mating, blood-sucking, and egg-laying are completed within a day. So if the environment is right, it only takes a week or two for mosquitoes to complete a generational change.
When the number 3000 grows exponentially, the scale will be scary. This is why mosquitoes can never be wiped out, they are so fertile!
After understanding the life of mosquitoes, we know that female mosquitoes suck blood for the sake of their children. How does this smell of great maternal love? Moreover, it only makes us itchy for a few hours, and it seems that the sin is not worthy of death. You are totally wrong if you think so. The real horror of mosquitoes is that they bring death.
The "Life Science" website (livescience) once selected the ten most dangerous animals in the world, and mosquitoes topped the list. Bill Gates also listed the animals that kill the most people every year in "Gates Notes". Mosquitoes have become the "number one killer" with a record of killing 830,000 people every year. Its death toll far exceeds the total number of more than 10 animals listed below.
So, mosquitoes are much scarier than we think. A mosquito carrying germs will transmit the germs to humans through saliva during the process of sucking blood. Mosquitoes can carry more than 300 kinds of germs. Common ones include Japanese encephalitis, dengue fever, filariasis, and yellow fever, among which the most deadly are We often call malaria .
Since mosquitoes are so scary, we should not only protect ourselves from mosquitoes to avoid itchiness, but also for our own safety. However, we may find that in reality, some people are particularly attracted to mosquitoes. As long as they are around, they will become a moving giant mosquito coil, and everyone around them will be safe. Could it be that his blood is particularly fragrant?
We often see that people conclude that a certain blood type is particularly attractive to mosquitoes, so they think mosquitoes can smell blood through the skin. In fact, mosquitoes do rely on smell, but what they smell is not the smell of blood, but the concentration of carbon dioxide and the smell of people.
There are more than 70 kinds of detectors in the mosquito's antennae to detect carbon dioxide. When it finds that the concentration of carbon dioxide in a certain location in the air is higher than the surrounding area, it knows that it is its prey. Mosquitoes can detect prey from a hundred meters away, and after locking on to the target, they track the prey through signals. At the same time, mosquitoes also have a heating element in their antennae, so they are also very sensitive to temperature.
Therefore, mosquitoes prefer the following types of people:
1. People with developed sweat glands and high body temperature
2. People with a fast respiratory rate , such as those who have just finished exercise or are tired
3. People with fast metabolism, such as children and Pregnant women are more likely to attract mosquitoes, while the elderly are less likely to attract mosquitoes.
4. Drinking alcohol, eating beef and mutton, and taking antihypertensive drugs are also easy targets for mosquitoes.
5. People wearing dark clothes, such as black, red, blue, green, etc.
6. People with darker skin
7. There are also stearic acid contained in many hairsprays, hand creams, and facial cleansers, which are also fatal temptations for mosquitoes.
After knowing this, it is not difficult for us to understand why wearing long clothes and long pants can Preventing mosquitoes doesn’t mean that mosquitoes can’t get in if you cover your skin. In fact, mosquitoes can even get through jeans. The most important purpose of wearing long clothes and long pants is to cover up your body odor so that mosquitoes will not come all the way to target you.
As we learn more and more about the habits of mosquitoes, I believe that smart humans will always find safer and more effective ways to kill mosquitoes. I hope we can get out of the "sea of itch" as soon as possible.
