Why do mosquitoes bite?

Brains On! Science podcast for kids - Brains On Universe

This episode explores why mosquitoes bite, how their saliva causes itching, and why scratching feels good—while also debunking myths about mosquito repellents and highlighting mosquitoes' ecological importance.

Key takeaways

• Female mosquitoes need blood to make eggs

Transcript preview

Lemonado. Brainson. Brainson. Universe. You're listening to Brainson. You're listening to Brainson. Where we're serious about being curious. Okay, I am. We're going to get started with the taping in just a sec. Okay, awesome. Where do I sit? There it is. I don't hear anything. Oh wait I hear it now. It's weird like one second it's there and then it's not. Okay we gotta figure this out before we start taping. Manica. Yeah Molly. Do you hear that noise? Uh, no. It sounds a little bit like this. Buzz. Yeah, I think it's like a little higher pitch like this. Uh, no. It sounds a little bit like this. Buzz. Molly, I respectfully disagree. It's definitely like a... It seems like you guys have to work this out. I'll leave this to you all and see myself out. Wait, I heard it. Oh, me too. I think it's over there. But I think it's underneath your chair. Have a good taping. Bye. Oh wait, no, I think it's up by the ceiling. Oh, yeah, wait. Oh, yeah, wait. Oh, yeah, wait. Oh, yeah, wait. Oh, it's the other corner. to Brainson. I'm Molly Bloom and my co-host today is Ayan from Chicago, Illinois. Hi Ayan. Hi, Molly and... ZZ. There's that noise again. Oh, there's the source. It's a mosquito. Oh, nice work, A ION. Okay, I'll just swap this thing and get on with the show. Wait, don't slap. What, a talking mosquito? Hey, when you hang around a recording studio, long enough, you pick up a few things. Huh. Huh. I'm a huge fan of a I'm trying to work my way in here for days. Welcome, I guess. Hey, as long as you're here, maybe you could help us answer this question that was sent in from Provo, Utah. Hello, I am Colin. My question is, how do mosquitoes suck out your blood? Great question, Colin. That's usually my line. Well, take a look at these mouth parts here. You'll have to describe them. This is a podcast. Oh, yeah. I'm a mosquito. Oh, yeah. I'm a mosquito. here to show you my mouth parts. Tell, don't show. Oh yeah. There are six different needle-looking structures here that help me get my blood meal. These two, these ones that look like little saws, they're for piercing your skin. And these two, these ones hold the skin open so that I can stick this other needle into one of your blood vessels. That's the one that sucks up the blood. And then this last one inject some of my saliva into your blood. Ew. Ew, why? That's just gross. That's gross. It's not gross, it's useful. My spit does all sorts of amazing things to your blood chemistry. It keeps your blood from clodding and also opens your blood vessels wider. This helps me eat faster so I can get out there before you. Squish me. I see. Well, here's a thought. How about maybe just not biting us? Your chances of getting squust would go way down. Yeah, about that. See, I kind of need the blood actually. Only female mosquitoes bite. because we need the protein in blood to make eggs and eventually little baby mosquitoes. They're so cute. They kind of look like little spiky dandelions. Sounds adorable? You know, no one has ever taken the time to chat with me. Thank you so much Molly for having me here today. Well, actually worked out really well. High-five mosquito. Oops. Oops. B-b-b-b-b-b-b-b-b-b-b-b-b-b-b-b-b-b-b-b-b-b-b-b-b-b-b-b-b-b-b-b-b-b-b-b-b-b-b-b-b-b-b-b-b-b-b-b-b-b-b-b-b-b-b-b-b-b-b-b-b-b-b-b-b-b-b-b-b-b-b-b brains brains like a six-part Swiss Army knife. So Aeon, do you get mosquito bites? I get lots of mosquito bites, especially in the summer when I'm playing with my friends outside, like soccer, baseball. Even when we're just running the mosquitoes to just bite us and bite us and it's really annoying. It's just a lot. So do you have any tips or like how to make them stop itching? I would recommend using bug spray. It just really works really well. Good advice. And what about once you get that mosquito bite, how do you make it stop itching? Or does it just itch and itch and itch? It just itches and itches and itches and you have to wait for it to go down before the bite actually goes away? Yeah, that can take a while. That brings us to something that you wondered about Ayan. Why do mosquito bites swell up and itch? Now that our mosquito guest is no longer with us, we have a human mosquito expert who's agreed to help us. My name is. My name is, my name is, my name She's a medical entomologist from the University of Wisconsin-Madison. Remember that saliva we heard about earlier? That's the key to the itch. There's actually a whole series of different proteins inside mosquito spit. The proteins in the saliva are causing your immune system to just go wild. Your body's recognizing that there's something there that wasn't supposed to be there. So your immune system responds and you get an inflammatory response, which is that familiar, itchy swelling redness. She doesn't really mean to do it, but you get an itchy bite left behind. And next comes, Scratching. Another very popular topic for questions. Hi, my name is Chloe. I live in Quarterline, Idaho. My question is, why does Scratching an inch make you satisfied? I started thinking about this one day because I had an itch. So I started scratching. It felt really good. But then I had to scratch it again to make it feel satisfied. The thing is, the thing is, So, good. But then your itchiness usually comes back to you. So what gives? Well, you feel itching and scratching with cells in your skin, called neurons. Neurons