Wildlife

"Wing" Men

A new study suggests that the males of disease-carrying mosquito species hover around humans, even though they don’t bite them, so they have better chances of “picking up” the females, which do bite.

Using human volunteers, University of Melbourne researchers tested to see whether male mosquitoes were attracted to the same people as the bloodthirsty females. They found they indeed were, but with weaker preferences. “We can’t say for certain that male mosquitoes evolved this trait specifically to gain a mating advantage, but it’s a strong possibility,” said researcher Perran Ross.