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The unpleasantness of mosquito bites is not something useful for mosquitoes, but it *is* useful for the ones who suffer it

The way our bodies react to mosquito saliva motivates us to avoid being bitten. Which must have had evolutionary benefits, keeping us away from diseases.

I.e. all those people that didn’t mind them and never got itchy from mosquito bites appear to have died out. And mosquitoes really wish that wasn’t true.

Boozilla ,
@Boozilla@lemmy.world avatar

Interesting, I never thought about this. It makes sense. Early peoples definitely took measures to reduce bites. Burning specific plants that repel them. Slathering their skin with mud, clay, or oils. Crafting mosquito resistant clothing and bedding. For thousands of years before germ theory.

takeheart ,

While mosquito bites are unpleasant in themselves due to the itching and swelling I don’t think it’s common for cultures to have worked out the causal relationship between mosquitos and diseases like malaria. But I’d be happily educated otherwise.

kireotick ,

Well the point is that people who had a bad reaction to mosquito bites tend to avoid getting them. Therefore they tend to live longer because they also happen to avoid the diseases, live longer and have more babies. They don’t need to understand anything.

The point is that the itching evolved because it could be beneficial for us. The bites are not unpleasant in themselves as you say. They are unpleasant because we evolved to feel them unpleasant. It is the same as sex being pleasant. It is that way because it is beneficial.

fine_sandy_bottom ,

I’m not disagreeing with you, but I think it’s a histamine response which is just directed at parasites in general.

lord_ryvan ,

Just my two cents, but if you see John getting bitten and then getting sick, and you see Mary getting bitten and then getting sick, you’re probably going to think “Gee, seems like people get sick of those bites. Better cover my skin, huh?”

I’m pretty sure people have connected the two. While it may not seem like it on a day to day basis, people are pretty smart when there’s enough of them and you give it some time.

Nougat ,

Female mosquitos (male ones don't bite) inject their saliva in order to get as much blood out as quickly as possible. The saliva contains an anticoagulant to prevent clotting. Most people are allergic to some proteins in mosquito saliva, which triggers the immune system to send in histamines. One of the things those histamines do is to dilate blood vessels, allowing for white blood cells to get to the area more quickly. Dilated blood vessels help the mosquito to get more blood.

So there might be a benefit to mosquitos from their bites causing that itching, because of the dilated blood vessels that come first.

dohpaz42 ,
@dohpaz42@lemmy.world avatar

I disagree because the reaction to a mosquito bite is an after effect of being bitten. By the time you realize you’ve been bitten, it’s too late. Any damage is already done. It’s also difficult to see mosquitoes, as they are small. Similar to ticks, they do not usually trigger a sensation that you would feel. The best you could hope for is to recognize and correlate the itchiness with the locations you visit, and learn to stay away from that area at certain times.

Cadeillac ,
@Cadeillac@lemmy.world avatar

Hey, you kind of figured it out by the end. The people that stay away from those areas to prevent being bitten will also avoid disease whether that was their intention or not

Brkdncr ,

I was rooting for them the whole way.

sinkingship ,

I disagree. I live in mosquito land and get bitten a lot. I’d say the majority of mosquitos biting me, I feel when they land, before they bite. Probably half of those I can either slap or miss and they take off again and try again. There are some spots though where I don’t feel them land. The annoying ones are those I feel touching me but they don’t land, they just fly around. Those are hard to slap.

Unrelated question: does anybody happen to know if the biting time matters for transmitting disease?

2 mosquitos died on me while typing out this comment.

dohpaz42 ,
@dohpaz42@lemmy.world avatar

Maybe my mosquitos are different than yours (just looked, and there are 3600 different kinds). Usually when I take my dog out so she can “commune with nature”, I’ll end up getting bit two or three times by mosquitos. I never feel them at all, except for the itchy bumps after the fact. Could be me. I only ever get bit on my legs/ankles.

As for bite time, I don’t think it’s the length of time the mosquito feeds, but the act of breaking skin and feeding. The malaria parasite will cause the mosquito to bite over and over again, which probably increases the infection rate.

sinkingship ,

Maybe they are different. I live in Asia. From what I heard there are many mosquito species, but the majority not blood sucking or at least not human blood sucking. Only few species carry disease, if I recall correctly.

To be fair, when I’m preoccupied, I also don’t feel them always. Or I feel them but my hands are busy, so I can’t slap them. I often have this at night, when I’m playing PC games and my feet get stung up. It’ll be like “ouch, my foot! Gotta slap that mosquito, but first I finish this in game. And then this.” Procrastinating until it’s too late.

I believe ankles are prime for them due to thin skin.

One mosquito died, writing this comment.

dubyakay ,

You need a net. Or some kinda natural deterrent.

dohpaz42 ,
@dohpaz42@lemmy.world avatar

I haven’t tried it myself, but I’ve heard coffee grounds are a good mosquito repellent. If you have access to essential oils, you should also look into citronella oil too.

Keep up the good fight!

sinkingship ,

I use mosquito coils, they are very effective.

I also have an electric bat, although it’s more for the phycho fun of killing than helping reducing bites. They are just too many.

I tried lemongrass as a natural deterrent but had the impression it made no difference.

What works best for me is: slapping those you can while not caring about the rest. Because once you start to scratch it’s a vicious cycle, so I don’t touch stings and usually then forget about them shortly after.

lord_ryvan ,

Mosquito land? Sounds awful! Where is it? So I can avoid it, of course.

SharkEatingBreakfast ,
@SharkEatingBreakfast@sopuli.xyz avatar

I don’t get itchy from mosquito bites. 🤔

Iheartcheese ,
@Iheartcheese@lemmy.world avatar

Witch.

NegativeLookBehind ,
@NegativeLookBehind@lemmy.world avatar

A DUCK

Mouselemming ,

I read that if you see a mosquito biting you and you can resist the urge to swat her until she’s done, you’ll have less itch because she’ll have sucked most of her saliva back out with the blood. But I haven’t tried it

MissJinx ,
@MissJinx@lemmy.world avatar

…motivates us to avoid being bitten…

nobody ever went “well let’s get bitten by this other species and see what’s up” lol I think all types of bites are avoided as a standard, you don’t need to be movitated to it

rockerface ,

Yeah but if it wasn’t itchy most mosquito bites would just go unnoticed

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