Prehistoric Male Mosquitoes Likely Fed on Blood, Fossils Reveal

The discovery, dating back to the early Cretaceous epoch, challenges current understanding of mosquito evolution and suggests blood-feeding was a trait originally shared by both sexes.

• Researchers have discovered the oldest-known fossils of mosquitoes, two males dating back to 130 million years ago, which had mouthparts used for obtaining blood, a feature seen only in modern female mosquitoes.
• The discovery suggests that originally all mosquitoes, regardless of gender, were blood-feeders, and this trait was later lost in males, possibly due to the emergence of flowering plants.
• The fossils were found in amber from Lebanon, dating back to the early Cretaceous epoch, and are the oldest known fossils of mosquitoes.
• The researchers believe that mosquitoes evolved from insects that did not consume blood, and that the mouthparts adapted for obtaining blood meals were originally used to pierce plants for nutritious fluids.
• The discovery challenges the scientific record for how early mosquito evolution occurred and suggests that mosquitoes probably originated millions of years earlier, during the Jurassic Period.

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Smithsonian Magazine South China Morning Post CNA