Why do flies and mosquitoes bite, and wasps and bees sting?
Mosquitoes are carnivores! They aren't "biting" you; they're drinking your blood. Wasps and bees eat nectar and honey. Their stinger exists only for the defense of their colony.
Insects which bite do so to suck blood from the body bitten. Bees and wasps use their stings, which are their weapons, in self-defense. A bee's sting is barbed, and cannot be withdrawn from the wound, but a wasp's sting is merely pointed and can stab repeatedly.
Bees eat pollen and nectar, using their stinger and venom for defense. Wasps, related to ants, are actually carnivores and can use their stinger for defense and stunning prey, which is why stinging doesn't kill wasps.
Mosquitos don't actually bite, female mosquitos pierce the skin to drink blood and gain nutrients vital to laying eggs. Male mosquitos are herbivores.
Biting flies bite for food, and are unrelated to houseflies, which have no biting parts (houseflys reguritate digestive fluids onto food, and "lap" the resulting mixture).
by Jessica Peri 11 years ago
Is there a way to repel bees and wasps from coming indoors?I share a room in a house with my boyfriend, and it seems that bees and wasps are finding their way in. This isn't entirely new, but it is happening more frequently. It looks like they seek refuge in the light fixtures near the window and...
by Cindy Lawson 5 years ago
I awoke this morning to discover that in spite of wearing pyjamas, some enterprising mosquito or mosquitoes had managed to find their way inside the bottoms overnight in order to give me two bites on one bum cheek, and one on the other, plus a further one on the back of my thigh about 6 inches down...
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