Male Mosquitoes with Bloodsucking Behavior | 12 Dec 2023

Recently, Scientists unearthed the oldest-known mosquito fossils, dating back 130 million years, has revealed the bloodsucking behavior in ancient males. These fossils provide insights into the evolutionary history of mosquitoes and their role as disease vectors.

• The fossils represent two male mosquitoes from the Cretaceous Period, possessing elongated piercing-sucking mouthparts typically seen only in females.
  • This discovery suggests that originally all mosquitoes were hematophagous (blood-eaters), regardless of their gender.
  • The male mosquitoes' mouthparts were shorter than those of modern female mosquitoes.
• Mosquitoes are blood-feeders and transmit parasites and diseases to their hosts, including malaria, yellow fever, Zika fever, and dengue.
• The researchers hypothesize that mosquitoes evolved from insects that did not consume blood, with their mouthparts initially adapted for piercing plants to access nutritious fluids.
  • The appearance of flowering plants during the Cretaceous Period may have played a role in the divergence of feeding behaviour between male and female mosquitoes.
• Mosquitoes likely originated millions of years earlier than the discovered fossils, with molecular evidence suggesting their existence during the Jurassic Period.