Male mosquitoes may be nearly as bloodthirsty as females under certain conditions, new research suggests. That upends the notion that only female mosquitoes bite, drink blood and spread diseases while males sip¹ nectar.



The finding hints that males aren’t entirely² harmless and might play a tiny role in disease spread.

In nature, A. aegypti is the main carrier of yellow fever, but can also spread Zika, chikungunya and dengue, while female C. tarsalis can spread West Nile, St. Louis encephalitis and related diseases (SN: 8/26/24; SN: 6/2/15). Male C. tarsalis mosquitoes can be infected with West Nile virus and produce infectious virus in their saliva³ just like females can, the researchers found.



Rasgon doubts males are important spreaders of disease, but scientists need to reconsider the idea that male mosquitoes don’t feed on blood and should study whether, in rare instances, males might be able to spread viruses.