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- It still baffles my mind, and I’m an Entomologist – Issue #78
It still baffles my mind, and I’m an Entomologist – Issue #78
But where do they go?
Ludwig Eksteen
May 02, 2023
Hello Explorer,
We are diving back into mosquitoes this week and I have more questions than answers this time. My main question that has been bothering me all week is: Where do they go? I’m talking about the mosquito that bites your ankles while you are sitting at your desk. They will bite you, but the moment you look for them they are gone.
In the past week I have been relentlessly looking for a mosquito to take photos of, but catching a mosquito is more difficult than one would think. I have gone as far as to lie down on my back under my desk to try and spot the mosquito that was busy biting my ankles, but every time I would emerge from under my desk with the question “But where did it go?”.
The species of mosquitoes that go for your ankles and feet are most likely an Aedes sp. of mosquito, as they are attracted by the stinky smell of your feet bacteria! The Aedes spp. are black with white stripes on their legs, and when they bite you, it usually starts itching shortly afterwards.
The reason they bite you under the desk or table on the ankles is because they like to hide in the dark humid places like under your desk, table, in the shower or bathroom, in closets or outside under bushier plants. When you put your feet under your desk or table where they are hiding, you are delivering their favourite food directly to their hideout, and who can say no to fast food delivered to your door?
In South Africa the Aedes spp. of mosquitoes we have does not transmit any diseases, but in other parts of the world they transmit Yellow Fever, Dengue Fever, Chikungunya Fever, and Zika Fever. I will keep on Exploring, both in literature and physically myself, to see where they go and hide once they have bitten you under the desk and once I solve this mystery I will Share what I Discovered with you Explorers.
Do you have any idea where they go and hide?
If you would like to send me a message with your answers, feel free to do so on Instagram @abugmanslife or via email to [email protected].
An Aedes sp. mosquito that I found in the garden. By looking at the antennae of this mosquito we can tell that it is a female, as it is not bushy but more stick like and slender. The reason for this is that the males use their bushy antennae to find the females by locating her on the pheromones that she releases. The male can detect or “smell” the female’s pheromones with his antennae and the bushy structure increases the surface area of the antennae, making them more sensitive which makes finding the females easier.
“Ask, and it will be given to you; seek, and you will find; knock, and it will be opened to you. For everyone who asks receives, and the one who seeks finds, and to the one who knocks it will be opened.”