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101 votes
Accepted

Can HIV be transmitted via mosquitos?

No, this is not possible. There are a few reasons for that, but most important are that the only thing a mosquito injects is its own saliva, while the blood is sucked into the stomach where it is ...
Chris's user avatar
  • 51.2k
18 votes

Why doesn't blood remain on a mosquito's proboscis in quantities that could spread blood-borne diseases?

A mosquito's proboscis isn't like that of a butterfly, which could easily have nectar clinging to it when it is coiled up; instead, consider that the part of the mosquito's proboscis that enters a ...
anongoodnurse's user avatar
13 votes

Can HIV be transmitted via mosquitos?

I am not a medical doctor but in my view this is within the realms of possibility. The probability has been estimated by Princeton at 1 in 10 million. This is per bite, assuming - I presume - that the ...
Marcus Junius Brutus's user avatar
7 votes
Accepted

Why doesn't blood remain on a mosquito's proboscis in quantities that could spread blood-borne diseases?

What you're talking about is called mechanical transmission (at least in veterinary and medical circles; plant epidemiologists call it something different). There's a nice overview by Gray and ...
arboviral's user avatar
  • 3,348
7 votes
Accepted

Can insects or mosquitoes be astonished(shocked)?

I originally thought there was no way anyone had studied this - it felt like one of those questions we get here a lot where people seem to assume "scientists know (almost) everything" - but I decided ...
Bryan Krause's user avatar
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5 votes
Accepted

Have some humans evolved to be less attractive to mosquitoes?

We now know based on a twin study that attractiveness to mosquitos is heritable (with a fairly high heritability of 0.62). Based on a genome-wide association study (GWAS) [which is probably the study ...
Ben Bolker's user avatar
  • 5,274
5 votes
Accepted

What is the highest range mosquito can be detected via Microphone?

In accordance with the article Using mobile phones as acoustic sensors for high-throughput mosquito surveillance mobile phone microphones can detect moscitos in 10 to 100 mm range (depends on a model)....
Artem's user avatar
  • 203
4 votes

How do rare mosquito borne diseases get transmitted if they are so rare?

Via Wikipedia: The virus is transmitted in saliva to a vertebrate host when an infected mosquito takes a blood meal. It thus cycles between mosquito and vertebrate amplifier hosts, mainly white-...
Bryan Krause's user avatar
  • 41.2k
2 votes
Accepted

How do sporozoites travel into the human host when the mosquito is sucking blood?

Nice question! Basically, the mosquito does not only suck; it also injects some saliva into the host with its saliva glands. From National Geographic: The mosquito starts salivating as soon as it ...
rotaredom's user avatar
  • 2,721
2 votes

How did mosquitoes expand their habitations to a place they never lived before?

It could be a number of things. Mosquitos need standing water. Look for that. Any changes? Was last year particularly rainy? One group of mosquitos lays its eggs at the waters edge. They lie dormant ...
Karl Kjer's user avatar
  • 7,627
2 votes

Do adult mosquitoes have color preferences?

Night-time mosquitoes sense IR, UV and CO2 and aromatics as well as colors. Mosquitos can smell blood through the skin too. https://www.asianscientist.com/2015/10/in-the-lab/mosquitoes-detect-veins/ ...
bandybabboon's user avatar
  • 9,322
1 vote

Expected number of times a mosquito bites (per night)?

From a couple of species (Culex quinquefasciatus, Anopheles gambiae) I rear and feed in laboratory, I can tell that if the female is not disturbed, she will bite only once, untill her belly if full, ...
Noil's user avatar
  • 298
1 vote

Are mosquitoes attracted to blue lights in particular?

It is not an urban myth. UV and blue lamps are good insect attractants. They have been used for many decades in insect traps, and these too work for mosquitoes. These lamps are routinely used in ...
S Pr's user avatar
  • 6,152
1 vote
Accepted

Are there parasitoids of mosquitoes ? (other than nematodes)

It happens I just found an answer to my question in a recent review book by George Heimpel and Nicolas Mills. It appears that for now we do not know any parasitoid of mosquitoes. Quoting chapter 1 : ...
Kjian's user avatar
  • 466
1 vote

Breeding mosquitoes at lower temperature

Check "breeding temperature" and similar obscure phrases for the search. There's a study on physical aspect of mosquitos bred in cold, they perhaps didn't note any significant metabolism change, you ...
bandybabboon's user avatar
  • 9,322
1 vote

Do adult mosquitoes have color preferences?

Short answer Mozzie preference to colors depends heavily on the species under investigation, as well as the specific preference test used. Background Mosquito color preference has been investigated ...
AliceD's user avatar
  • 52.2k
1 vote

How to differentiate male and female mosquitoes at pupal stage?

Male and female pupae are consistently slightly different sizes. This isn't particularly obvious to look at them, but allows them to be sorted mechanically by using two sheets of rigid, waterproof ...
arboviral's user avatar
  • 3,348
1 vote

What is the reproductive success of a biting mosquito?

The amount (percentage) of eggs to mature varies greatly and depends on many factors and off course varies by season. The correct (but not really satisfying) answer is that from every 100 eggs, ...
RHA's user avatar
  • 3,657
1 vote

How exactly do mosquitoes navigate directly on target?

Mosquitoes do not rely on a single cue to find its host. It is the combination of CO2, temperature and odor cues, that makes mosquito an efficient blood feeder. These two papers might help you in ...
RKK's user avatar
  • 630

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