It’s a common misconception that all mosquitoes drink blood. Usually, both genders of mosquitoes drink nectar from plants to survive, but that won’t stop you from getting bitten this summer.
Only female mosquitoes need to drink blood because they require protein to lay eggs every few days. Why don’t mosquitoes bite your face?
Mosquitoes don’t bite your face because it is a longer flight from their usual habitat in plants and stagnant water which are lower to the ground. Mosquitoes will bite the first exposed skin they see that also complies with their natural instincts, which often includes biting closer to your legs and arms rather than your face.
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Why Mosquitos Never Bite Your Face
Mosquitoes are an annoying but essential part of their local ecology. Not only do these infuriating insects provide meals to creatures that eat small bugs like bats, birds, young lizards, and frogs, but they also help pollinate.
As mosquitoes go about their routine, sipping nectar with their long proboscis, they are not ‘out to get you’ or looking to bite your face off with their tiny needle-like snouts.
Mosquitoes specifically don’t bite your face because it’s inconvenient and a bad idea for them.
1 – Blood Vessels Are Further From The Skin’s Surface
Even on a relatively slim person the skin and fat layer on, for example, a human cheek is thicker than an ankle or elbow.
A spot where they aren’t seen easily, with less of a fat layer is ideal. Since mosquitoes need to pierce a blood vessel this makes it harder to find.
Although mosquitoes aren’t averse to sticking their potential-meal multiple times, the longer they take, the bigger the risk.
When you feel like you’ve been attacked by a dozen mosquitoes at once, it’s often not the case. A mosquito lands on a human and looks around for a few seconds before stabbing their proboscis into the skin where they expect the blood will flow.
However, they aren’t always right. More frequently than not the mosquito will have to pierce the skin multiple times to get her blood meal.
Going after a spot on the body where people are less likely to spot the mosquito buys her time. Having a few minutes is vital since the mosquito will feed until she is full.
Biology Stack Exchange says mosquitoes tend to have, “…feeding times between 150 and 329 seconds, depending on the size of the blood vessel. The mean feeding time was 240 seconds.”
Unfortunately for the mosquito, that means it takes over two minutes to get a meal, which is a lot of risks.
2 – More Nerve Endings Easier To Feel (They Get Caught)
Mosquitoes aren’t trying to annoy and harm you. They need blood to provide protein for their eggs because nectar is filled with sugar and energy, but little else.
These pests’ goal is to get in and out undetected. Your face has over a thousand nerve endings, which means you’re far more likely to feel a mosquito land there.
3 – It’s A Long Way To Fly
Mosquitoes breed in stagnant water, which is typically right around ground level. Likewise, they live most of their lives around small flowering plants and in the grasses.
Some mosquitoes make their homes in shrubs or bushes, but for the most part, these insects don’t live at eye level for us.
Since our faces are almost always exposed, it would make sense for mosquitoes to aim their efforts there, but only if you ignore other important considerations.
Faces are sensitive and prone to notice even very tiny landings. They are also where we keep our eyes, so a mosquito near your face is more likely to be spotted.
It’s much easier to go for an exposed elbow or leg, plus the bugs don’t need to fly as far to reach them.
If you’ve ever seen a mosquito net hat, it seems obvious that our faces need protection from pests. However, you are as likely or more to get bitten in the back of the neck.
Some species of mosquito have even evolved to target this less-sensitive area because it’s in a natural blind spot.
4 – Species Based Tendencies
Though it seems like a mosquito is just a mosquito, there are more than one species. In fact, there are a 176 species of mosquitoes in North America, and thousands of others worldwide.
Each mosquito species has subtle differences in appearance, but more importantly, they have different hunting habits.
Some mosquito species don’t usually trouble humans while other feed off of you and me exclusively. However, even among the spaces of mosquitoes that eat only people, there are still differences.
For example, there are mosquitoes who are attracted to the odor of foot bacteria that tend to bite ankles and feet.
If you live in an area where the dominant mosquito species has a habit of going for your ankles, you likely won’t have to deal with getting bitten in the face.
However, if your local pests fly higher and aim for elbows and necks, you may see the occasional facial mosquito bite.
5 – They Do Bite Faces
If you’ve ever been bitten in the forehead by a mosquito-like I have then you know that these pests are fully capable of face biting.
While it’s not their usual hunting ground, a human face is attractive to a mosquito because that’s where the CO2 comes out. Luckily, following carbon dioxide receptors is only one way they hunt.
As the National Institutes of Health explains, “Female mosquitoes have nerve cells called cpA neurons that have a receptor to detect carbon dioxide. This enables them to sense the plumes of air we exhale. But mosquitoes are still attracted to human skin even in the absence of carbon dioxide… the receptor responsible for detecting carbon dioxide also detects skin odorants.”
Helpful Tips To Know About Why Don’t Mosquitoes Bite Your Face
Mosquitoes don’t go out f their way to bite you in the face because it’s more work and risk than necessary for them. The mosquito only wants to eat.
Here are more helpful tips to know about why mosquitoes don’t bite your face.
- Once a mosquito eats her fill of blood, she rests. A typical female mosquito will spend the next two to three days processing all the protein from your blood before she lays her eggs.
- Mosquitoes live a week or more, so they will only feed on blood around one to four times in their lives.
- No mosquito species evolved to bite faces or hands because of the numerous nerve endings found there.
Final Thoughts
Mosquitoes eat whatever is most convenient and natural for them. This means your face is seldom on the menu because it’s furthest from their habitat, and it’s a more difficult target.
If your sensitive face feels a mosquito land, you’re more likely to kill or brush her away before she can feed, which goes against their desire to survive.
Unfortunately for humans, mosquitoes need their blood meal to provide enough protein to their eggs. Rather than risk death and failing to create the next generation, most have evolved to aim for smarter targets.
However, a mosquito can bite your face.
