Kerry Mallett, age 10, of Victoria, B.C., Canada, for her question:
What do mosquitoes bite when there are no people around?
There were mosquitoes around long before the human family came to live on the Earth. If WE all departed for another world, most of them would find plenty of other Earthlings to bite. A few of them would perish, but most of the mosquito population would never miss us.
The experts have counted about 2,000 different mosquitoes in the world, and Each species has its own way of life. They are found almost everywhere, from the tropics to the polar regions. SOME species attack frogs and other cold blooded animals, and certain jungle dwelling mosquitoes favor monkeys. A few species depend upon human beings, but half of the world's mosquito population attacks only plants.
The mosquito has such irritating habits because it cannot Eat solid food. It must feed on fluids, and the pesky creature is fitted with a special beak for sipping liquids from plants or animals. When you are stung by a mosquito, you are not really bitten, for the critter has no teeth. The elaborate tools in the insect's beak have been used to suck up a sip of your blood.
The male mosquito is too weak to pierce the skin of peop1e or animals. He dines on sap and juices Extracted from the world of plants. The female of every species is
Usually a menace to some animal or other, some species favor cold blooded animals, others prefer birds. Some are fond of dogs; others attack horsea or other large animals.
The female mosquito can sip plant juices and sometimes she doe3. Experts suspect that she needs at least one meal of blood in order to develop and and lay her eggs. A few species attack no plants or animals and feed only upon the blood of human beings. If there were no people around, they would soon perish because they could not produce the Eggs for future generations.
The males of all species live quietly among the foliage. They pay no attention to us or to the animals. Most of the females ignore us in favor of animal blood. But a few species could not live without us.
Mosquito damage is often far more serious than the stings they inflict upon our f1esh. As they pass among their victims, the wretched creatures may cause diseases in both peop1e and animals. They spread malaria, yellow fever and other dread diseases among human populations. Their blood thirsty attacks may cause dogs to get heart worms or infect horse8 with a virus that causes fatal sleeping sickness.