Can Mosquitoes Contain Food?
WouterWhether mosquitoes can contaminate food depends on whether they are eaten by land predators. If they are, the microplastics could enter the food chain and affect insect-eating species on land. If they are eaten by birds or other aquatic insects, it’s not a huge problem.
In fact, many insects spend their early stages in water. These aquatic insects are consumed by other creatures, such as bats and spiders. This may mean that plastics enter the food chain and eventually make their way back to humans.
One of the main culprits is artificially sweetened drinks. Sugars are a major attractant for mosquitoes. Some mosquitoes ingest small plastic particles in their larval stage. When the insects metamorphose into adults, the microplastics remain.
Researchers at the University of Reading, England, have found that mosquitoes can carry microplastic pollution from the environment. They discovered that fluorescent polystyrene particles – which are two microns in size – remained in the mosquitoes’ liver, Malpighian tubules, and kidneys. The team also found plastic beads in the guts of adult mosquitoes.
The researchers believe that microplastics can contaminate the food chain, as they could travel up to the insect’s mouth and back down. Until now, scientists believed that the particles were only accessible to aquatic species. However, their findings may be surprising.
Callaghan’s research suggests that if young mosquitoes eat plastic, it could transfer the microplastics to other insects, and even to land-based animals, such as bats. This may cause the problem to get worse.
