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The Mosquitoes Are Coming for Us: They are our apex predator, the deadliest hunters [tr]
NY Times ^ | July 27, 2019 | Timothy C. Winegard

Posted on 07/29/2019 9:19:05 AM PDT by C19fan

It has been one of the most aggravating sounds on earth for more than 100 million years — the humming buzz of a mosquito.

She gently lands on your ankle and inserts two serrated mandible cutting blades and saws into your skin, while two other retractors open a passage for the proboscis. With this straw she sucks your blood, while a sixth needle pumps in saliva that contains an anticoagulant that prevents that blood from clotting. This shortens her feeding time, lessening the likelihood that you splat her across your ankle.

The female mosquito needs your blood to grow her eggs. Please don’t feel singled out. She bites everyone. There is no truth to the myths that mosquitoes prefer women over men or blondes and redheads over those with darker hair. She does, however, play favorites. Type O blood seems to be the vintage of choice. Stinky feet emit a bacterium that woos famished females, as do perfumes. As a parting gift, she leaves behind an itchy bump (an allergic reaction to her saliva) and potentially something far worse: infection with one of several deadly diseases, including malaria, Zika, West Nile, dengue and yellow fever.

(Excerpt) Read more at nytimes.com ...


TOPICS: Health/Medicine; History; Pets/Animals; Science
KEYWORDS: disease; mosquitoes
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To: fwdude

Dragon and damsel flies also munch on mosquitoes. So do “House Centipedes.” Maybe we should breed a lot more of them?


61 posted on 07/29/2019 1:40:50 PM PDT by piytar (If it was not for double standards, the Democrats and the left would have NO standards.)
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To: C19fan

The best insect repellent I have ever found was “Cactus Juice”...........Not advertised as such but more effective than all the others out there..........


62 posted on 07/29/2019 1:43:06 PM PDT by Hot Tabasco (I'm in the cleaning business.......I launder money)
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To: SanchoP
“Skin-So-Soft” by Avon is the best bug repellent there is.

If you want to smell like a really cheap whore. Don't wear it if you're golfing with buddies otherwise they will never let you live it down.........

Try "Cactus Juice"......

63 posted on 07/29/2019 1:49:10 PM PDT by Hot Tabasco (I'm in the cleaning business.......I launder money)
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To: z3n

Many animals eat them, both as adults and as larvae. the only time they need to bite us is when the female is about to lay eggs. They cannot synthesize the protein necessary to do so, so they drink blood to get it.


64 posted on 07/30/2019 5:42:50 AM PDT by jmcenanly ("The more corrupt the state, the more laws." Tacitus, Publius Cornelius)
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To: Hot Tabasco
Cactus Juice?

Reduce it down to ketchup consistency and load it in a squeeze bottle. It'll change your outlook on life.

65 posted on 07/30/2019 8:10:55 AM PDT by SanchoP
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