I see that I am not alone…
I can’t find a reference but IIRC it is the male mosquito that makes noise, the female is virtually silent. This makes sense as it enables the female to hunt more effectively. male mosquitos subsist on nectar and water and do not bite humans.
I am planning to go camping next week at Elk Island National Park and not only will there be mosquitos to contend with but black flies and deer flies as well. I’ll be packing DEET for sure.
Just a little bit of trivia. Mosquitoes will sting you and draw blood, like a syringe. The other fuckers will litterally take a bite out of you, meaning they’ll get away with a chunk of your flesh.
Here I sit in Yellowknife. There are no skeeters, or flies or much of anything because ITS TOO FUCKING COLD!! It’s 8 degrees. I didn’t even bring a jacket with me.
(((Sue)))
Edmonton just isn’t the same without you here, whenever you leave it loses so much of it’s charm and style.
I’d personally love to see some 8C weather, the heat has been driving me nuts.
I hope things are going as well as they can there.
Feynn.
Now… back to your regularly scheduled rant.
I can’t believe I actually spent the time searching this! Both male and female mosquitoes make noise, although the female’s hum is higher pitched. See this site for skeeter facts and myths.
The sound is produced by the flapping of the wings. According to this research the species of skeeter can be determined by the frequency of the hum produced by the female. They even provide a short recording (warning: may cause nightmares 
) and a neato graph. The frequency peaks fall at about 400Hz and around 1000Hz – right within the optimum range of human hearing.
As for the loudness of the sound, I find the graph somewhat puzzling. Over 100dB seems pretty darn loud, even if the skeeter is sitting right on the microphone. However, according to this physics problem, skeeters hum at about 40dB, which isn’t terribly loud, but definitely audible.* Especially right by your ear!
Apparently, the male buzzing is actually annoying to the females and chases them away. Some anti-skeeter devices use this idea. So, if it is the sound of dozens of males humming in my tent that I hear, then why are the females hanging out and biting? You’d think they would be trying to escape. No, it makes more sense that the females are the ones I hear. The same ones who like to get close and personal. In any case, I’ve heard skeeters approach and seen the very same buggers land and bite me. Lots of times.
Enough hijacking. Back to ranting.
rivulus
[sub]*Does anyone have a calculator? Who wants to figure out how many skeeters it takes to create a noise as loud as a rock concert?[/sub]
There might be something to the “allergic and get bitten allthe time” school of thought. I’m not allergic, bites don’t affect me much (not braggin’, just sayin’), and mosquitoes are not attracted to me. Maybe it’s a chemical in the skin kind of thing.
(Rivulus, would that be a regular rock concert, or a Disaster Area concert? :D)
Gee, I don’t know. Would that be louder than a jackhammer?
Bigger than a toaster? We need some science types from GQ to tackle this one.