Page 98 - The Miracles of Smell and Taste

96

This fact was discovered by Professor Jerry Butler of Florida
University. As is well known, for her eggs to develop, the female mosqui-
to needs blood as well as certain chemical substances including cholester-
ol and Vitamin B that she cannot manufacture herself. These she obtains

from human beings or animals. Professor Butler’s studies revealed that
the female mosquito does not select at random the prey whose blood she
will suck. She prefers creatures that will meet her needs in the best possi-
ble way and in particular, uses her sense of smell to locate them.
According to Butler, mosquitoes’ sense of smell is so specialized that they
can identify the minute amounts of chemicals that the human body gives
off into the air. 82
Smells originating from the human body, carbon dioxide given off
during exhalation and other scents are constantly disseminated into the
air. The female mosquito is equipped to detect them, and finds her prey
by zigzagging among the scent molecules, then locating the location of a
surface artery, using a heat detector with pinpoint accuracy.
The way that an insect 1 centimeter (0.4 inch) in length smells her
prey from many meters (feet) away and also analyses that scent, is a most

striking phenomenon. The mosquito’s highly developed olfactory sense is
just one of the magnificent pieces of equipment in its body—and an im-
portant fact of creation
that once again allows
humans to realize the
flawless nature of
God’s creation. The
sense of smell in the
mosquito, which many

The gnat is one of the
living things referred to
by God in the Qur’an.

The Miracles of Smell and
Taste