Do you like summer? If so, then you certainly know what everyone is terribly afraid of and do not like. The mosquitoes! Mosquitoes are nobody's favorite, annoying insects.
And they, by the way, are not so harmless. In the world there are several types of very dangerous bloodsuckers. And what do you know about mosquitoes, in fact? Here are 25 facts that will not only surprise you, but also shock. Be careful!
1. Only female mosquitoes bite their victims. Why? Because blood is a building element in the formation of eggs.
2. Worldwide there are about 3,500 species of mosquitoes.
3. One species (Anopheles) is the carrier of malaria, while some other species are known to spread encephalitis.
4. Some countries can boast the smallest number of species of mosquitoes. For example, in the USA, in West Virginia, the least number of mosquitoes is only 26 species.
5. According to statistics, some regions of the world are teeming with mosquitoes. So, in Texas there are 85 species, in Florida - 80.
6. Spaniards call mosquitoes "little flies".
7. In parts of Africa and Oceania (Australia and New Zealand), mosquitoes are known as Mozzi.
8. Mosquitoes do not have teeth. They basically just eat vegetable nectar and fruit.
9. The female sucks the blood of the long and "jagged" part of the mouth, called the proboscis.
10. A mosquito can drink almost 3 times more blood than it weighs itself. Do not panic! To lose all your blood, you must be bitten more than a million times.
11. Although mosquitoes spread some serious diseases and viruses, but there is one virus that they can not transmit - it's HIV. The virus is not only not duplicated in the immune system of the mosquito, but also the stomach of the insect itself destroys it.
12. Females lay up to 300 eggs simultaneously on the surface of stagnant water.
13. The mosquito spends the first 10 days of life in the water.
14. Since mosquitoes are cold-blooded insects, they need a warm temperature. Otherwise, they either fall into a hibernation, or die.
15. Adult males live only 10 days. Females live about six to eight weeks (if they do not hibernate, they can live up to 6 months).
16. Females can flap their wings up to 500 times a second! Males find females by the sound that their wings generate.
17. Most mosquitoes never travel more than a couple of kilometers. In fact, most of them will remain within a few kilometers of the place where they hatched. Only a few species of solonchak can fly to 64 km.
18. Mosquitoes feed on not only the blood of people. Some species also hunt for the blood of reptiles and amphibians.
19. As for the altitude, most mosquitoes fly below 7 meters. However, some species have been found in the Himalayas at an altitude of over 2,400 meters!
20. Mosquitoes can smell people on the released carbon dioxide, which we exhale. They are also attracted by sweat, perfumes and certain types of bacteria.
21. Mosquitoes appeared in the Jurassic period. And this is about 210 million years!
22. Mosquitoes actually inject their saliva into the blood of a person when they bite. Their saliva acts as a soft analgesic anticoagulant, activating the dilution of blood.
23. Swelling from a mosquito bite occurs due to an allergic reaction to their saliva.
24. Mosquitoes are considered the most deadly animals in the world. Because of the infection with malaria, which carries mosquitoes, more than 1 million people die each year.
25. It is believed that Alexander of Macedon died of malaria in 323 BC because of a mosquito bite.