In an exclusive film produced by a team from the Institut Pasteur, we see what happens under the skin of an anesthetized mouse when the mosquito bites it. The insect turns out to be a careful predator.
In the skin of a mosquito! This is the name that several films made by researchers from the Pasteur Institute could bear, posted on the journal’s website. Plos One a few days ago. Dled by Valérie Choumet, this team of scientists has indeed succeeded in filming using a microscope the way mosquitoes suck blood under the skin of their victims. It was an anesthetized mouse that acted as a guinea pig.
And in this video, we discover that the insect is a careful predator. Before stinging, he takes his time, and fumbles for the best possible blood source.
In detail, it can be seen that the mosquito’s proboscis is clearly malleable, capable of bending 90 degrees. without giving in. The flexibility of this organ allows this culicidae go deep into the skin to find the area with the most blood supply.
Finally, once the blood vessel is detected, it stings in it and draws blood while injecting saliva containing an anticoagulant into it. It is this product that is responsible for the unpleasant itching caused by the bites. Images to see that will probably not reassure the famous mosquito magnets!
Source: Plos One
.