What do adult male mosquitoes eat?
(A) Blood
(B) Plant nectar and juices
(C) Feces
(D) All the above
Did you say blood?
Well you were wrong.
The correct answer is plant nectar and juices.
Adult mosquitoes (both males and females) feed on plant nectar and juices to obtain glucose which provides the nourishment needed.
However, the female mosquito requires a blood meal in order to obtain proteins that are required to produce eggs. Only a few species of mosquitoes are able to store enough energy as larvae, to produce eggs when they are adults, without the needing a blood meal. For every blood meal, a female mosquito lays a batch of eggs. The blood can come from humans, mammals, birds or reptiles with different species having different preference for sources.
Male mosquitoes do not take a blood meal at any point in their life.
Further reading on what mosquitoes eat
Watch video of Male mosquito (Culex spp) feeding on plant nectar
No comments:
Post a Comment