We all know that Australia is home to the deadliest and most dangerous animals on earth, but sometimes new discoveries from Australian species can provide levity to this grim side of the land down under. A couple of scientists recently found a species of Australian mosquito that fed only on frogs’ noses.
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Initially, the scientists, John Gould and Jose Valdez, were studying frogs but then, after taking several photographs of different species of frogs in their natural habitat, they noticed that when there were mosquitoes biting the frogs, they did so through the nose.
From this observation, they looked into this behavior by the mosquito Mimomyia elegans, and found that this species of mosquito always went for the snout and nowhere else. Even though the mosquito may land on other parts of the frogs’ bodies, it would work its away up to the snout.
Why this mosquito targets the nose is still a mystery and needs further research, but this observation is crucial as there are frogs such as the Litoria aurea which are almost extinct, and these mosquitoes might be transmitting deadly fungal diseases to these frogs.
(Image credit: Ethology (2023). DOI: 10.1111/eth.13424)
Source: neatorama