The other night I was swatting mosquitos, alerted to their blood-sucking presence by their infernal buzzing, when it occurred to me to wonder why mosquitos do buzz. What evolutionary advantage does buzzing give mosquitos who buzz over those who don’t? It seems to me that the silent ones would be more likely to survive and reproduce. (I am aware that there are varieties of mosquitos that do not buzz, like the Tiger Mosquito imported from Asia which is now over-running the east coast of the United States.)
It’s hard to put silencers on those little wings.
Fill out a change order, and we’ll see what we can do.
As I recall, the male finds the female, in part, from the buzz. He also uses pheromones, and tracks humans like the female does, our scent and body heat functioning like a neon singles bar sign, even if the males aren’t drinkers.
It seems like a disadvantage for the hunt, but for the getaway, loud flight will beat quiet sprinting on mosquito legs any day of the week.
I’m not expert, but I remember reading that the ones that buzz are not the ones that bite. Maybe they are there to distract you while their mates are enjoying cocktails elsewhere.
The males apparently don’t bite, but I have on numerous occasions killed a buzzer and had blood on my hands… however I don’t discriminate and do my best to destroy them all anyway.