All mosquitos have a penetrating proboscis, it's how they get their blood meal. Most (all?) other blood sucking creatures (even ticks) have mandibles, and chew their way in, or create a bite and then suck it, but mosquitos it's a hypodermic needle, essentially. Some mosquitos are bigger than others and seem to have different strategies with prey.
All mosquitos seem to have trouble with breeze or wind. Same with smoke.
The mosquitos I personally experienced in Bengaluru, Hyderabad (occasionally), Singapore, etc. were generally what I'd call 'sneaky little bastards'. They were quiet, small, and seemed to prefer sneak attacks you didn't even notice at the time. I'm pretty hairy, so I'd feel them land, but it made me on edge all the time. Most people didn't seem to notice them at all, even when bit.
The mosquitos I'm referring to in my comment were in central Ontario, Canada. My understanding is it isn't just Ontario though, and folks I know in Alaska have stories of even bigger ones.
The Ontario Mosquitos I got quite familiar with were commonly referred to as the 'national bird'. They got huge. And they're often loud, and somewhat hard to miss, but that doesn't mean you can stop them when you get enough around you. Wingspan seemed to be roughly an inch, and their proboscis was about 1/4" inch. Some were bigger.
As I said, went right through my sweatshirt and drew quite a bit of blood. It was messy.
Makes sense if you realize most of their meals are probably moose, bear, deer, etc. with thick hides. Still, no fun.
I ended up starting to treat my clothing with Permethin, that seemed to work for anything covered with clothing, but between them and the black flies, ugh. Those bastards literally took a small chunk out of you and they'd fly up your pant legs if they could to get your calves or ankles to do it too.
6 comments
[ 1.9 ms ] story [ 25.2 ms ] threadMosquitos drill for oil, as it were.
All mosquitos seem to have trouble with breeze or wind. Same with smoke.
The mosquitos I personally experienced in Bengaluru, Hyderabad (occasionally), Singapore, etc. were generally what I'd call 'sneaky little bastards'. They were quiet, small, and seemed to prefer sneak attacks you didn't even notice at the time. I'm pretty hairy, so I'd feel them land, but it made me on edge all the time. Most people didn't seem to notice them at all, even when bit.
The mosquitos I'm referring to in my comment were in central Ontario, Canada. My understanding is it isn't just Ontario though, and folks I know in Alaska have stories of even bigger ones.
The Ontario Mosquitos I got quite familiar with were commonly referred to as the 'national bird'. They got huge. And they're often loud, and somewhat hard to miss, but that doesn't mean you can stop them when you get enough around you. Wingspan seemed to be roughly an inch, and their proboscis was about 1/4" inch. Some were bigger.
As I said, went right through my sweatshirt and drew quite a bit of blood. It was messy.
Makes sense if you realize most of their meals are probably moose, bear, deer, etc. with thick hides. Still, no fun.
I ended up starting to treat my clothing with Permethin, that seemed to work for anything covered with clothing, but between them and the black flies, ugh. Those bastards literally took a small chunk out of you and they'd fly up your pant legs if they could to get your calves or ankles to do it too.