Leaving behind its watery world and setting forth in a new world, the mosquito is now an entirely different creature. The new body of this creature is full of countless miracles, as in the previous stages of development. On close examination of the mosquito's body, the signs of a very special creation are evident in every detail. Now let's get acquainted with these miracles by dealing with the mosquito's structure section by section.

The mosquito's body is divided into 3 sections: the head, the thorax and the abdomen.

A fully equipped control centre: The head

There are two feelers on the upper side of the mosquito's head. These feelers are rich in sensory cells, and are very sensitive receptors. The male mosquito's feelers are much more sensitive than those of the female, bcause at mating time, thanks to these feelers, they can perceive the frequency of the female's wing beat in the midst of a multitude of sounds.

In the female mosquito between the feelers there is a tube for sucking blood. This sucking tube does not have a simple structure; contrarily it contains a somewhat complex system. In fact it is the casing for a very special cutting and vacuuming mechanism, called the "labium."

When the mosquito bites, this sheath folds back and the cutting mechanism goes into action. This mechanism consists of 6 parts. Four of these are very effective cutting knives. They are strong enough to cut as easily into the skin of a frog or the scales of a snake as into the human skin.

The other two parts join together to make an empty tube. The mosquito sticks this tube into the wound opened by the knives enabling it to suck the blood of its victim.

One of the knives numbs the tissue with a salivary fluid it pours into the wound. This is a kind of local anaesthetic. In this way the mosquito cuts into the skin and you don't feel a thing as it sucks your blood. As this fluid also prevents the blood from clotting, the mosquito is able to carry on sucking the blood. It is again this fluid that later causes irritation and swelling.

The mosquito has up to 100 eyes, which are arranged on the head in honeycomb fashion. The picture below shows a cross-section taken from the inside to the edge of this compound eye. Below left shows the appearance of an object as transmitted from these eyes to the brain.