How ‘mini Mosquitos’ keep and feed their young? (BioE80 Spr2015)
May 26, 2015 • 3:24 PM UTC
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pmrh1
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A fascination for tiny flying insects took hold when we were lucky to grab what seemed like a small fly but soon discovered otherwise.
Central Questions asked The central question at first was, are the tiny things flying around around us simply smaller versions of the conventional flies we know about and more importantly what fluid do these bugs have. Is it similar to human blood and what could it be used for?
Findings At first an analysis of the insect we were examining was conducted by looking at its head and body.
Central Questions asked The central question at first was, are the tiny things flying around around us simply smaller versions of the conventional flies we know about and more importantly what fluid do these bugs have. Is it similar to human blood and what could it be used for?
Findings At first an analysis of the insect we were examining was conducted by looking at its head and body.
What was so interesting was to find that a.) the fluid inside seemed clear, b.) its head didn’t at all seem ‘flyish’. It looked more like a mosquito with longer front ‘arms’. What was also strange was to see this green segment, which was assumed to be its ‘gut’.
A plausible confirmation of the little insect being some sort of mosquito was this:
A plausible confirmation of the little insect being some sort of mosquito was this:
Blood! It was incredible to see just how much blood-like fluid the insect contained when it was squashed inside the slide.
The final piece of observational data to understand why the insect would use this blood since it didn’t use blood as a body fluid was the discovery of what looked like ‘eggs’ inside of it, see below video:
The final piece of observational data to understand why the insect would use this blood since it didn’t use blood as a body fluid was the discovery of what looked like ‘eggs’ inside of it, see below video:
Conclusion We can infer from the above findings, particularly the video showing the non-trivial amount of blood coming from its head, that it is some mosquito like insect which uses blood as a source of food or perhaps even heat. More importantly is to understand next just why so much blood was stored and for what particular purpose. Is it to just feed her young, to keep them warm? Do these types of insects require blood on a daily basis or can they store their food for days to come? Do they even need blood at all or is it simply a convenient source of nutrition. Finally, an important question to consider is to what extent can these small insects spread disease and be ‘hacked’ to do so?
Special thanks Many thanks to my partner Dan Hart for helping build the Foldoscope and catching the insect in our makeshift slide. Also to Manu for helping organize this!
Special thanks Many thanks to my partner Dan Hart for helping build the Foldoscope and catching the insect in our makeshift slide. Also to Manu for helping organize this!
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