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June
22, 2007:
Mosquitoes
Interview
with Andrew Spielman ScD, author of Mosquito
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Mike
Carruthers:
Did you know that a mosquito is more likely to bite you late in
the afternoon and male mosquitoes never bite?
Andrew Spielman:
It's only the female that sucks blood. And the blood that is
ingested is used for the productions of eggs.
Andrew Spielman, author of the book
Mosquito, says mosquitoes do not use blood as food for themselves.
The blood isn't even good for them.
In fact a mosquito
will live longer if she has no access to blood at all.
Why do mosquitoes
seem to thrive around standing water?
Their larvae
are all aquatic. Oh, all mosquitoes are absolutely dependent
upon water of some source for their immature stages.
And you don't
always itch when you get a mosquito bite.
It's a sensitivity
reaction, it's an immune reaction that's actually causing the
itch. So on first exposure to a particular kind of mosquito
there will be no immune reaction and you'll probably not itch.
In his research
Andrew says that insect repellants that contain the ingredient
deet seem to work the best. And if you do get a mosquito bite…
Well, I just
hold my arm under the water faucet and turn the water up as
hot as I can stand it and then the itching all of a sudden stops.
At somethingyoushouldknow.net
I'm Mike Carruthers and that's Something You Should Know.
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