Page 66 - How It Works - Book of Amazing Answers To Curious Questions, 12

AMAZIG ANSWERS TO CURIOUS QUESTIONS ------------------

What's inside Thorax Abdomen
This part of the
Comprised of seven segments, blood
mosquito is
and nectar are directly sourced here.
specialised for
locomotion, It is also the digestive area.
a mosquito? pairs of legs Wing
with its three
and single set
of wings
attached.
The wings consist of a
series of longitudinal
and cross veins through
We take a look inside these a lightweight outgrowth
of the exoskeleton.
miniature bloodsud<ers
osquitoes are
nectar-drinking Head
M insects, which - in the The head has been
case of the females-also drink honed to acquire
sensory data
blood lhaematophagy). This is information for feeding,
undertaken as the female needs with sensitive antenna,
compound eyes and a
to obtain nutrients there within
stinger-like proboscis. The compound eye is constructed
-such as iron and protein -to from thousands of individual
help develop her eggs. As such, photoreceptor units and has been
developed to detect fast movement.
the common mosquito has
developed a highly complex form
and system in order to extract Legs
these substances from their The three pairs of legs are long and covered
target host, including a saliva with minuscule hairs which help it stick to
surfaces and provide sensory feedback.
that negatively affects vascular
constriction, blood clotting,
platelet aggregation and
angiogenesis, allowing it to drink Antennae
freely. We take a look at the The proboscis is used to inject the exploitative The antenna is highly
negative saliva needed to circumvent the sensitive and plays a major
mechanisms it has evolved in
1 target's vertebrate physiological responses, role in detecting odours of
order to do so. 0 and also to extract blood from a target. potential targets.
�� ----------------------------------------------
How do ticl<s

sucl< blood?

Discover how these little creatures
make a tasty meal of their hosts
icks are extremely small parasites that feed on the
protein-rich blood of other animals through the process of
T hematophagy. As they are arachnids they have eight legs,
the first pair of which features a special sensory pit called the
'hailer' organ, which can sniff out prey. After finding a suitable
host, the tick anchors itself to the unwitting victim using its claws
as well as its spiny legs and the special sucker pads on its feet. To
puncture the skin and get to the blood, the tick
uses its two fang-like chelicerae, and then extends a long serrated
proboscis called a hypostome. The hypostome makes it difficult to
remove an attached tick as, like a fishhook, it's covered with
backwards-pointing barbs. The tick then sucks up blood until its
body, also known as the idiosoma, is so bloated it can't take any
more -this can take several days. 0

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