If you happened to be enjoying a great night’s sleep, only to be woken up by the incessant and annoying buzzing of a mosquito in your ear before your alarm clock goes off, then it can ruin the entire experience, especially if you notice the itch left behind after being bitten during your slumber.
And if you wake up to find yourself covered in bites, you may be wondering just how much of your blood a mosquito can get from its feasting.
Do mosquitoes get full? What happens to all the blood that goes in their bellies?
Yes, they do, and they bring your blood to feed their young.
Do Mosquitoes Get Full?
The first thing that you need to know is that it’s only female mosquitoes that actually bite and feed on your blood. The males of the species satisfy their hunger by feeding themselves on flower nectar. This is quite different than other bloodsuckers like bed bugs, where both the males and females drink your blood.
Although female mosquitoes will also eat flower nectar as an appetizer, it’s blood that they leave for their main course. That’s because the protein found in human and animal blood allows for the eggs that she’s carrying to develop before she lays them.
Although female mosquitoes will also eat flower nectar as an appetizer, it’s blood that they leave for their main course. That’s because the protein found in human and animal blood allows for the eggs that she’s carrying to develop before she lays them.
So, the mosquito that you’ll find causing that annoying buzz around your head when you’re asleep will be a female on the hunt for her main course.
You’ll also find her attacking your ankles and the bottoms of your feet while you’re having a candlelit dinner by a lake. Or when you’re camping after sunset. Or when you’re simply trying to enjoy an evening with family and friends in your backyard.
But how much blood can a female mosquito suck out of you in one bite? And will she ever get full after feasting on your blood (which is also known as a blood meal)?
Queen Itch
A female mosquito will begin her biting rampage only when she is carrying fertilized eggs. And she will continue in her search for blood until she is fully bloated with it, so that the protein and nutrients that the blood contains work to activate the development of her eggs.
Female mosquitoes can suck between one to 10 mg of blood in just one single bite, and can hold up to her entire body weight in blood! So she will keep feeding until she is completely full.
And there is no limit to the number of bites she will give because it entirely depends on how much blood she takes from each one.
A female mosquito is able to suck between one to 10 mg of blood in just one single bite, and can hold up to her entire body weight in blood! So she will keep feeding until she is completely full.
And if she isn’t able to fill herself up from just one person, she’ll find others to feast on in order to satisfy her appetite.
Yuck!
This is how female mosquitoes are able to transport viral diseases like dengue fever, malaria, and encephalitis from one unwilling victim to another.
But getting back to the subject of blood meals, after the female mosquito is totally satisfied and her belly is full, she will take a much-needed rest. Well, can you imagine carrying around your body weight in liquid?
Her rest will generally last for one to three days, after which time she will lay from 100 up to 300 of her eggs on a stagnant water surface.
And then the process starts all over again.
Off she’ll go in search of a mate before attacking unwitting victims and filling her empty belly with their blood in order to activate her fertilized eggs.
It’s possible for her life to continue like this for up to five months, sometimes even longer, although on average female mosquitoes will live for around six weeks.
This is quite different from the nectar-loving males, who only have a lifespan of about a week or so — that’s if they succumb to being killed by a human first.
Most males in general will only survive for a day or two, and those who are able to mate with a female are considered the lucky ones.
Conclusion
Mosquitoes are generally considered by everyone to be really annoying creatures, and they’re really just that! Besides the itch you’ll experience from getting bitten by the female of the species, they don’t really cause any real harm to their victims…
However, if they happen to be carrying a disease like malaria or encephalitis, then they can be quite destructive and cause you to become very ill — or even die.
Mosquitoes are the deadliest creatures on earth (besides humans), though most of us in western countries don’t really think anything of mosquito bites other than annoyance.
If you happen to be in an area with mosquito-borne diseases, you need to take that quite seriously. Be sure to follow the guidance of your health agency, and don’t let these blood-suckers get full on your blood and give you a deadly disease!
