Tag: zika virus

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Mosquito Proboscis: Nature’s Painless Needle Secrets

Female mosquitoes have an amazing proboscis—a slender mouthpart with six tiny stylets that work together to pierce skin almost painlessly. Two serrated maxillae saw through the skin, two mandibles spread the wound, the labrum sucks blood, and the hypopharynx injects saliva with anesthetics and anticoagulants to numb the area and keep blood flowing. This clever […]