Re: How often does a mosquito bite in a day

Hello.

Isn't it horrible to wake up in the night to the sound of a mosquito 
disembarking from your skin heavily laden with your blood? Much as I love 
insects, I usually have no hesitation in squashing those I find in my 
bathroom in the morning and inspecting the colour of the corpse to answer 
the question "did you get me first?" Fortunately, the UK is not inundated 
with a variety of larger biting mosquitoes, but the wet climate does make 
sure we get them the whole year round. Probably the worst mosquito bite is 
to be had in the Autumn and early Winter from culiseta annulata - about 12 
mm long with distinctively striped legs and abdomen. Traveling abroad is a 
much different matter.

In general a mosquito will need to feed once every two to three days. Meat 
and blood are protein rich food sources and can sustain an animal for 
longer between meals. This is why most carnivores gorge, then sleep whilst 
herbivores eat almost continuously. Additionally, cold-blooded 
(exothermic) carnivores who don't waste 80% of their consumed energy 
making heat (like we do) need to eat much less again. This is why snakes 
and insects and the like can go for huge lengths of time without a meal (I 
had a python once that went off his food for 9 months!).

So why do you end up with several bites when there is only one insect in 
the room? It depends on who you are, how vascular you are, and how quickly 
your blood clots. Although a mosquito injects a little enzyme into your 
skin to stop the blood from clotting (giving you the red, itchy histamine 
reaction), your blood may clot, or the capillary exhaust before he or she 
is full. That is why the mosquito will move on and try again.

Here are a few tips to try instead of sprays and plug-in chemicals that 
are no good for other insects or yourself. When I was in Africa I used to 
leave a wet tea-bag outside my room to attract Mantids. A few Mantids in 
your room will guarantee very few insects of any other sort in a very 
short space of time. A Mantis will not hurt you and will stay around while 
the food is in supply. Secondly, insects have a good sense of smell and 
generally dislike strong spicy flavours (which is one of the reasons why 
spices are associated with the hotter, more fly-ridden countries) - they 
also hate alcohol. What better excuse for a few beers and a curry than to 
keep those little rascals at bay!

Watch out!
Justin Roux.