Lastly on our trip down blood sucking lane, let us look at the most well known, far reaching, and thoroughly hated of our little vampiric friends - the mosquito.
Some mosquitoes have evolved into ectoparasites - they live off of another organism for sustenance and thusly cause said host some level of harm. Now, I know what you must be thinking. ALL mosquitoes are horrendous little parasites that deserve all the wrath round-up can throw at them. But, that’s where you’re wrong. Because only the female mosquitoes actually latch onto you and drink your precious life essence.
You see, these feminine mosquitoes are, of course, able to ingest nutrients from blood, but they (along with their less...verocious male counterparts) also gain nutrients from plant nectar. They are not obligate hematophagists (I may have made that word up as well. And thus I am proud of myself). The one thing that lady mosquitoes get from their blood sucking is protein - a necessary component of egg production, and thus procreation.
FUN FACT: Mosquitoes DO in fact, have preferences when it comes to blood. According to the all knowing Wiki page, they prefer Type O blood, heavy breathers (source?!), and pregnant women. Some scientists also believe there are other genetic markers that make people more delectable to these little creatures, and thus we inherit a swarm of mosquitoes from our forebears. Smashing!
The abdomen of a mosquito can hold up to 3 times its body weight in blood, and after it’s feast, now fueled with endless amounts of protein, will convert this blood into eggs. The eggs are housed in the exact same spot as the blood, so the eggs get that dark thirst started early, I suppose.
The feeding method of the mosquito is well known to us all, having all felt that pinch when a lady mosquito sinks her proboscis into our epidermis. Ouch! The mosquito’s saliva is excreted, as with other vampiric creatures, and acts as an anticoagulant AND a wonderful transport for bloodborne pathogens. And itches like the devil, should the devil choose to be itchy.
The mosquito ingests both sugary nectars and blood. The sugary nectar is stored in the crop, just like our little leechy friends. The nectar is then released to help fuel the labor intensive process of blood digestion (the blood is stored in the stomach, the nectar in the crop, thus allowing the mosquito to never get too full of one and not have room for the other. Kind of like myself and my ability to eat 3 slices of pizza and STILL drink 6 beers. Evolution at work).
For this illustration, I am going to pull a direct quote from the wiki page regarding mosquitoes, because the wording just tickled me beyond a fancy.
“- like certain other insects that survive on dilute, purely liquid diets, notably many of the Hemiptera, many adult mosquitoes must excrete unwanted aqueous fractions even as they feed.”
I hate it when I must excrete unwanted aqueous fractions as I feed. Such an inconvenience.
What that quote is saying is that mosquitoes, as with all the others, excrete liquid AS they feed. And this liquid, urine in layman's terms, has been processes so thoroughly by the body very little escapes the mosquito (in terms of nutrients). And, ladies and gentlemen and anyone anywhere above or in between, mosquitoes do, in fact, poop. The iron and other solids undigested are condensed into small pellets, which are released as necessary (to leave room for blood and babies).
Mosquitoes poop, vampire bats poop, leeches poop. Everything that ingests excretes. The Conservation of Mass, right? The mass of a system must remain constant over time. But that’s not taking into consideration the finer points of quantum physics, special relativity, and a whole slew of other things I have absolutely no knowledge of.
Are we done here?
Absolutely not. The road hath just begun, and we are as curious as cats. But never fear, for our 9 lives have yet to be spent.