How Do Mosquitoes Take Too Much Blood?
WouterDuring a blood meal, a female mosquito ingests about five millionths of a liter of human blood. This is about the volume of one dried mustard seed. It’s not a lot, but it’s a lot more than a human’s average body weight.
To drink so much blood, the female mosquito has to undergo a massive metabolic challenge. After a blood meal, the mosquito releases vesicles into its gut, where they release digestive enzymes. This means that the mosquito is constantly eating and drinking.
After the mosquito has ingested the blood, it will begin to look for a safe place to process the blood. The vesicles are released into the gut, where they break down the proteins in the blood. They then package the enzymes into vesicles.
The COPI, or coatomer protein 1, system is used to transport the enzymes into the mosquito’s gut. The COPI complex is made up of several subunits. The removal of one subunit causes the complex to fall apart. When the complex is disrupted, 90 percent of the mosquitoes will die within 48 hours.
In addition to the COPI system, the blood feeding process involves abdominal stretch receptors. These receptors help regulate the amount of blood that a mosquito can ingest. The scientists think that these receptors prevent mosquitoes from drinking themselves to death.
A study published in 1974 found that mosquitoes would prefer to feed on people who have a certain type of blood. Specifically, the researchers found that mosquitoes landed on individuals with a type O blood type.
