According to John Lynch: Mosquitos are insects, in fact they are related to the flies (family Diptera). They don't have teeth the same as we (or other mammals) have. They do have serrations (jagged edges) on their mouthparts which they use (like a steak knife !) to pierce the skin of the animal they are biting.
Only the female mosquito bites, and this is because she needs a meal of fresh blood before she can lay her eggs. Mosquitos lay their eggs in stagnant (smelly !) water.
The mosquitos mouthparts are very modified versions of those of other flies. For example, the house fly (Musca domestica, as scientists call it) has mouthparts which are modified to suck up liquid food like a sponge !
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Jamie
p.s. So really, why do mosquitos need teeth?
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Mosquitos are insects, in fact they are related to the flies (family Diptera). They don't have teeth the same as we (or other mammals) have. They do have serrations (jagged edges) on their mouthparts which they use (like a steak knife !) to pierce the skin of the animal they are biting.
Only the female mosquito bites, and this is because she needs a meal of fresh blood before she can lay her eggs. Mosquitos lay their eggs in stagnant (smelly !) water.
The mosquitos mouthparts are very modified versions of those of other flies. For example, the house fly (Musca domestica, as scientists call it) has mouthparts which are modified to suck up liquid food like a sponge !
Here is a very interesting site about mosquitos:
http://whyfiles.org/016skeeter/index.html
HOPE IT HELPS!!
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-Kyle
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