Page 74 - The Miracle in the Mosquito

THE MIRACLE IN THE MOSQUITO

as far as the digestive system. It takes 3-4 days to digest the blood
and then the sucking process is repeated.
If we stop and think for a while about all these processes, we
will come to some important conclusions.
The mosquito doesn’t just have a superior receptive system
and a cutting and sucking mechanism to get the blood it needs; it
also has chemical knowledge. As explained above, the mosquito
uses a secretion, which prevents the blood from coagulating.
What’s more, this secretion protects it from an enzyme in the de-
fence system of a body unknown to it and of which it has no inti-
mate knowledge. This secretion even has the property of anaes-
thetising the living tissues it cuts like a surgeon.
In light of this information one can’t help asking these ques-
tions:

◆ How does the mosquito know that blood coagulates?
◆ How has it learnt that cutting into the living tissue of its
victim causes pain and how has it developed a numbing technique
to get round this problem?
◆ Giving a local anaesthetic before an operation is a tech-

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