Some mosquitoes are key pollinators—and eat disease-carrying mosquitoes.

Mosquitoes are the world's deadliest animal, but gene drives could kill them.

Mosquitoes drink a maximum of 0.01 milliliters of blood in a single meal.

How we helped make Aedes aegypti mosquitoes such a problem

Mosquito genome sequencing data suggests that Aedes aegypti mosquitoes first started specializing on human blood around 5,000 years ago—when climates shifted and humans started domesticating plants in Africa and stored large amounts of water that may have attracted the bugs.

Mosquitoes top the ranking of the world's deadliest animals.

Female Anopheles mosquito bites are the primary way malaria spreads

Females are the only ones that bite: They need blood to get essential nutrients for egg development. Very rarely, the disease is also spread via blood transfusions, organ transplants, shared needles, or from mother to fetus during pregnancy or birth.

Genetic analysis suggests Anopheles mosquitoes fed on humans some 1.8 million years ago. (Paywall may apply.)

What if we killed every mosquito on Earth?

Mosquitoes aren't just annoying, they're deadly. they're also responsible for an estimated 725,000 deaths worldwide, every year. Would it be so bad if we found a way to wipe them out completely? Real scientists have gamed out this hypothetical scenario, concluding it actually wouldn't be that bad. This five-minute video breaks down one way this could happen.

Over 1,500 insect species pollinate plants in the UK

These insects—including bumblebees, moths, butterflies, and beetles—play a crucial role in the reproduction of flowering plants, also known as angiosperms. They do so by transferring pollen from the male reproductive organ—the anther—to the female one—the stigma—which enables the plant to produce fruit.

Explore inside a mosquito factory where millions of mosquitoes are bred weekly

In Medellin, Colombia, scientists are infecting Aedes aegypti mosquitoes with Wolbachia, a bacterium that wouldn't otherwise infect the species, but does block its ability to transmit dengue, Zika, yellow fever, and chikungunya. In the wild, infected mosquitoes would breed with wild mosquitoes, pass down Wolbachia, and thus reduce disease transmission.

Mosquitoes even have olfactory receptors on their sperm.

Mosquito saliva acts as an anticlotting agent

The bug's piercing mouthpart, the proboscis, is actually several tubes—one for sucking, one for spitting. But the chemicals in its spit actually help its blood meal to flow, combating its victim's ability to clot at the puncture site.

West Nile Virus is maintained in nature, even without human infections

Mosquitoes pick up the virus when they feed on birds, and then pass it to other birds with their bite, delivering it via virus-laden saliva. Hundreds of different North American bird species can harbor the virus—even if they don't all get sick from it.

Wolbachia: the bacteria that could eliminate dengue fever

Dengue fever, transmitted by mosquitoes, kills more people annually than all types of natural disasters combined. However, mosquitoes that host Wolbachia bacterium have their ability to transmit the virus naturally suppressed, offering a route to eliminating nearly 25,000 deaths annually.

See this diverse list of vector-borne diseases

Human illnesses caused by parasites, viruses, and bacteria, and transmitted by a living organism—often small, bloodsucking ones like mosquitoes, ticks, and sandflies—are known as vector-borne diseases. That carrier is called a vector. These diseases disproportionately affect the poorest populations in tropical and subtropical areas.

Bees are crucial for pollination and food security

When animals and insects pick up the pollen of flowers and spread it, they allow plants, including many food crops, to reproduce. The most common pollinator is the bee, but bees are at risk from pollution and pesticides.

Twin studies helped scientists understand why mosquitoes like some of us more than others

A combination of carbon dioxide output, skin chemistry, genetic factors, hormones, and clothing choice can make us particularly vulnerable to mosquito bites. Watch how mosquitoes responded to one man in the video versus his wife, a research approach typically conducted with identical and fraternal twins to test mosquito attractiveness.

About one-third of the world's food supply depends on pollinators like bees, butterflies, and bats to transfer pollen between flowers, which use bright colors, scents, and nectar to attract them.

Wolbachia is also being used to slash mosquito numbers

The naturally occurring bacterium does not naturally infect Aedes aegypti mosquitoes, but communities in locations including California and Texas have released male mosquitoes infected with Wolbachia and reported a significant drop in subsequent mosquitoes: When infected males mate with uninfected wild females, the eggs don't hatch.

See this graphic of the complex malaria transmission lifecycle

Female Anopheles mosquitoes contract malaria by feeding on the blood of a human already infected with the disease-causing parasite. The parasite then develops in the mosquito's gut for one to two weeks before it migrates to the mosquito's salivary glands. Next, when the mosquito bites another person the parasite is delivered into the bloodstream of another human. This graphic further details what happens inside the human body during infection.

Mosquito-borne illnesses have killed two captive orcas at SeaWorld since they became water park attractions.

Genetics may account for nearly 67% of mosquito attractiveness.

From 1970 to 2017, invasive species have caused $1.28T in damage globally

The costliest species were the Asian tiger and yellow fever mosquitoes ($149B), which arrived in the US from Asia and sub-Saharan Africa, respectively. The bulk of their damage came from their transmission of diseases such as Zika, chikungunya, and dengue. (Some readers may experience a paywall.)

Learn about the basic anatomy of mosquitoes

This short explainer video breaks down the mosquito's general body components, highlighting how mosquitoes breathe, fly, and more. It also touches on how experts can tell different mosquito species apart.

Vector-borne diseases kill more than 700,000 people globally each year—and are growing

The diseases with the greatest potential to spread widely aren't the ones that quickly kill human hosts. Instead, the best hosts or reservoirs for vector-borne diseases would be chronically ill over the long term, increasing the likelihood that the pathogen could be transmitted to others.

Wolbachia is a naturally occurring bacterium being employed to fight dengue

Scientists are fighting dengue spread in a roundabout way: injecting bacteria into Aedes aegypti mosquito eggs, which blocks the dengue virus from replicating in the tissue of mosquitoes. Researchers hope the bacterium will be passed to future generations, inoculating them against dengue. Wolbachia is also being investigated to combat other mosquito-borne diseases.

Using mosquitoes to vaccinate bats could curb the spread of deadly diseases. (Paywall may apply.)

Researchers are breeding genetically modified mosquitoes to be malaria-resistant

Using CRISPR, a team of international researchers is genetically modifying Anopheles in the lab to be malaria-resistant. The insects would be released into the wild to mate with the wild population, passing down this trait. As of early 2026 they had not yet released the mosquitoes into the wild for field trials. Separate CRISPR work seeks to reduce the Anopheles population altogether.

Read the 2012 study about captive orcas and the threat of mosquito-borne illness

Written by orca trainers who went on to become scientists, it states mosquitoes bite orcas at night when the animals hang out close to the surface. What's more, antibiotics used to keep captive orcas healthy also may depress their immune response, boosting the risks of them being unable to fight off diseases like West Nile Virus and encephalitis, which have killed orcas at US water parks.

Anopheles mosquitoes are developing resistance to insecticides.

Watch how viruses like Ebola can spill over from animals to humans—and vice-versa.

More than 20 mosquito-borne and tick-borne diseases are found in the US

Children, older adults, and people with compromised immune systems are at particular risk of poorer health outcomes from these diseases. But dog owners and outdoor enthusiasts are among those at particular risk of contracting these illnesses, which include Lyme disease, Zika, and the condition Alpha-gal Syndrome.

Bats are uniquely suited to act as reservoirs of viruses.

Some of the deadliest diseases to jump from animals to humans originate in bat species. This rich visualization explores the diversity of bats and the factors that make them efficient vectors for harboring and transmitting disease, from their long lifespans to their migration patterns.

Iceland, the last mosquito-free country, detected them in 2025.

The mosquito's role in the transmission of malaria was confirmed in 1897.

Mosquitoes stop flying at wind speeds equivalent to the swishing of a horse's tail.

Human beekeeping has been traced back to 7000 BCE

Eighty-seven of the world's leading crops rely on pollination in some way, including 43 that are highly dependent or entirely reliant on it. Without pollinators, key foods such as apples, avocados, and almonds would likely become extinct, pushing entire ecosystems into collapse.

Pregnancy makes someone more attractive to the mosquito species that transmits malaria.

Increasing contact between humans and wild animals is driving zoonotic threats

Zoonotic diseases, which spread from animals to humans, present one of the most significant emerging threats worldwide. Scientists have identified around 200 viruses capable of infecting humans, and unfortunately, the number of such diseases are on the rise—at least 60% of all emerging infectious diseases are zoonotic in origin.