Summer isn’t quite here yet but it sure is hot. Along with the heat comes our little, pesky friends: mosquitoes. They are annoying but even more annoying are the bite marks they leave behind. After they’ve flown away or you’ve swatted them away, the bite will most likely swell up, turn red, and and itch like crazy. But why do these mosquito bites itch so much? Only female mosquitoes bite because they need blood for their eggs. When she lands on you she will stick 6 needles in you. One pair of the needles have little teeth on the end, and the mosquito will use this to cut into your skin. Another pair of needles are used to keep skin's tissue separated so that the last two needles can effectively suck up blood. One of the needles will search for a blood vessel to suck your blood from. Mosquitoes can suck blood with such a strength that your blood vessel could pop or rupture. While the mosquito sucks in blood, she is also pumping in her saliva. The saliva acts as an anticoagulant and prevents blood from clotting near the wound. This allows her to get a lot of blood before you can swat her away. The saliva causes an allergic reaction in your body and that’s primarily why it itches.
The saliva has many proteins and enzymes that override your coagulation system. The coagulation system is a cascade that helps hold your red bloods in place when they are clotting at the site of a wound. Mosquito saliva, however, will disrupt this and when the mosquito pierces your blood vessel, the cascade won’t take place and there won’t be any blood clotting. Because these proteins and enzymes disrupt the coagulation cascade, they are called anticoagulants and are directly responsible your allergic reaction. Even after the mosquito has flown off, some of the saliva is left behind in your skin. This triggers a response from your immune system. Immunoglobulins are sent to the mosquito bite and breakdown mast cells and connective tissue. The mast cells release histamines which cause the bite to itch.
Click here to watch a short video of how strong a mosquito will suck up blood!
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Bz5GwXU_aS8
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