Hi, my name is Lindsey Hile and im here to talk about evolution of mosquitoes.
The mosquito species is one that sucks blood, for enough proteins and nutrients to produce as many offspring as possible.
But, some end up with a different genetic variation that makes them prefer different types of blood.
Well, what effect could that have?
Mosquitoes that were naturally attracted to human blood, were able to survive and pass on those genes. But, some colonies of mosquitoes preferred animal blood.
mosquitoes need bodies of water to lay eggs and produce healthy offspring. The colonies that were attracted to animal blood, were most likely in dry desert areas, away from standing water. Therefore could not lay eggs and produce many offspring.
The mosquitoes that preferred animal blood, did not have food sources that were directly near bodies of water, because they followed animals instead of humans.
That means they faced selective pressure in the environment that caused them to have a lower survival rate.