Mosquito Claw
Apr 19, 2018 • 5:00 AM UTC
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140x Magnification
Microorganisms
Lauren Beghin
Honours student at the University of Cape Town in South Africa. My current studies are in medical cell biology and my research project is investigating the innervation of regenerated islets in rats using immunohistochemistry.
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The unknown complexity of the mosquito foot pad. Like many other users a mosquito was annoying me, I killed her and viewed her anatomy under my foldscope. After tweeting the focusing I finally managed to get a clear picture of her leg, wing, and most interestingly her foot pad.
As you can see in the image mosquitoes have claws. How cool is that? I never thought of this tiny creature having claws that remind me of dog claws. This new discovery led me to read up on the complexity of mosquito foot pads. I know very little about insects and the foldscope got me interested in a region of biology that has never interested me before.
My google searches lead me to find out that mosquito claws help them grip onto their victims. The hair on the foot pad, also visible in the image, aid in mosquitoes gripping onto slippery surfaces. They also have the ability to walk on water due to their footpads. If you are still not convinced that mosquito feet are amazing listen up. Mosquitoes can support 40X their weight on water. A study actually investigated the the force that each leg can support on water by attaching a needle to a mosquito leg and measuring the force that the leg can support.
Lastly I would like to than the mosquito that gave her life for my curiosity.
As you can see in the image mosquitoes have claws. How cool is that? I never thought of this tiny creature having claws that remind me of dog claws. This new discovery led me to read up on the complexity of mosquito foot pads. I know very little about insects and the foldscope got me interested in a region of biology that has never interested me before.
My google searches lead me to find out that mosquito claws help them grip onto their victims. The hair on the foot pad, also visible in the image, aid in mosquitoes gripping onto slippery surfaces. They also have the ability to walk on water due to their footpads. If you are still not convinced that mosquito feet are amazing listen up. Mosquitoes can support 40X their weight on water. A study actually investigated the the force that each leg can support on water by attaching a needle to a mosquito leg and measuring the force that the leg can support.
Lastly I would like to than the mosquito that gave her life for my curiosity.
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