Sensory perception of mosquitoes - an experiment

Factual Questions
1

I’ve been working/living out here in Africa since last October and have become an enthusiastic killer of mosquitoes who get into my house. As 1/6th of my team is currently down with malaria you can understand why…

Got two mroe this morning - squashed 'em against the bathroom mirror. Two attempts - two deaths. Which got my wondering…

Everytime I spot one landed on the mirror I get a hit - 100% success rate over months now. But trying to kill the buggers when they are on sitting on walls, doors or other bits of furniture I am down around the 30% mark. Same method in all cases - the flat of my hand. I have learnt that “no back swing” is the golden rule in mossie killing so no technique differences either…

Is there something about the mirror (perhaps that it is mirrored and the reflections confuse them?) that causes them to sit there to get squashed? I am struggling for alternative explanations. I realise my experimental data is not without flaws and perhaps other environmental factors are at work - but even restricting it to kill ratios in the bathroom - mirror versus wall tiles - there is too much of a difference to put it down to chance.

They seem to like mirrors though. Perhaps they like the condensation that collects on them? Does it glue them to the surface so that the mirror-bound ones are just slower to take off? Do they like whatever the find in mirrors so much that they prefer death to departure? Anyone know the Straight Dope on insect senses??

Yeah, before you say it - there IS very little to do around here…

2

I remember someone once telling me that the best way to swat a fly was to try to clap it between both hands, as (he claimed) the fly’s sensory apparatus was not able to cope with two different but equal simultaneous threats.

I don’t know if this is actually true, but if it is, then a mirror would produce a similar situation, from the mozzie’s POV.

Another, somewhat simpler possibility is the fact that it isn’t possible to cast a shadow onto the surface of a mirror.

3

Or they could just be narcissistic.

4

They have both chemical and heat sense along with vision, and from what I’ve read I gather that they don’t have very good vision.

5

Your not having much to do in Africa did not inhibit your writing skills. Enjoyed your post. Visiting Florida from California we were visited by two Mosquitos on different nights. Searched the entire place for a few days and could not find them. Then they showed up on our mirrors. As you said they were just hanging out and the thump of my hand finished them off. The mystery continues…why do mosquitos like mirrors? Any answers?

6

“Mirror mirror on the wall, who is the fairest of them all?”
::Splat::