Despite mosquitos and ticks being one of the most well-known insects in not only the United States but also the world today, some facts about mosquitos are not as well-known and ultimately may surprise you. So for starters, what are some interesting facts about mosquitos that most don’t know?

1) Only Female Mosquitos Bite.

-Even though mosquitos tend to run rampant during the hotter months of the year and you would think that you’re getting bombarded from every angle, you’re actually only getting bitten by ½ of the total mosquito population. The reason being that only female mosquitos bite is because female mosquitos need a “blood meal”. If mosquitos do not have a blood meal, they are unable to lay eggs and keep their lineage going, thus why only the females who are actually laying the eggs are the ones that are biting you.

2) Mosquitos Use Carbon Dioxide To Find Hosts

-Mosquitos use a few different indicators to find a worthy host including body odor and sweat but one of their biggest radars is Carbon Dioxide. In a perfect world, humans wouldn’t emit carbon dioxide and mosquitos would be completely null and void to using them as a host. However, this is not a perfect world and we put out vast amounts of CO2 regularly. Mosquitos are consistently drawn to us because of how much we emit and it’s a big tell for mosquitos in regards to using a potential host.

3) Mosquitos Are The World’s Deadliest Animal.

-Yes, you read that right. Mosquitos are actually the most dangerous animal in the world. You may be shocked thinking that it may have been a lion or some sort of primitive beast coming in as the deadliest animal but to put this into perspective, lions kill around 200 humans a year while mosquito-borne diseases are responsible for one MILLION deaths per year, making them easily the world’s deadliest animal.

So as you can see, there’s a lot more to mosquitos than just some tiny nuisance that bites you and your family during the summer months. But rather, they operate off of a sound ecosystem with rules specifically acclimated to fit their lineage.