Shocking new research: Male mosquitoes can also suck blood!

A new study has overturned the traditional belief that only female mosquitoes feed on blood and transmit disease. The finding suggests that male mosquitoes are not as harmless as previously thought , and may play a small role in spreading disease.

Accordingly, under certain conditions, male mosquitoes can also seek blood as a survival solution.

Scientists have found that male mosquitoes of two species, Culex tarsalis and Aedes aegypti - which are normally not interested in blood - will seek blood meals when humidity is low and their usual nectar sources are inaccessible.

Male mosquitoes can also seek out blood as a survival solution. (Illustration: realestate.com.au).

The discovery came from a chance observation by a graduate student in the lab of entomology professor Jason Rasgon at Penn State University. They noticed that some male mosquitoes sometimes sucked blood through a thin artificial membrane when researchers reduced the humidity and deprived them of their nectar source.

To test whether male mosquitoes could suck blood directly from humans, Professor Rasgon conducted a daring experiment by sticking his hand into a cage of mosquitoes. While the well-hydrated males were largely unresponsive, the dehydrated ones landed and probed his skin. One even bit him, although it only penetrated the outer layer of skin.

However, the structure of the male mosquito's suction tube does not allow them to penetrate deeply to suck blood like the female mosquito. But through a scratch caused by a cat, Rasgon discovered that dehydrated male mosquitoes can suck blood from an open wound.

In another experiment, scientists found that male Aedes aegypti mosquitoes that were genetically engineered to be unable to sense humidity did not tend to feed more when humidity was low, suggesting that male mosquitoes may seek out blood to quench their thirst.

Previously, scientists believed that blood was toxic to male Culex quinquefasciatus mosquitoes and that male mosquitoes in general were unable to digest blood . However, in Rasgon's experiment, male C. tarsalis mosquitoes not only survived after sucking blood, but also lived slightly longer than those that did not suck blood.

While Professor Rasgon does not believe that male mosquitoes play a significant role in transmitting the disease, the finding forces scientists to reconsider the view that male mosquitoes do not feed. Further research is needed to understand whether, in rare cases, male mosquitoes can transmit the virus.

The discovery is particularly noteworthy because both mosquito species in the study are dangerous disease vectors. Aedes aegypti is the main cause of yellow fever and can transmit diseases such as Zika, chikungunya and dengue, while female C. tarsalis mosquitoes can transmit West Nile virus and St. Louis encephalitis.