There is nothing more annoying than trying to sleep at night and hearing the sound of mosquitoes hovering over your head like a band playing music. Here’s why they do this.
The sound you hear when mosquitoes buzz around your ears is caused by the rapid beating of their wings.
The buzz is mainly a byproduct of the mosquito’s flight, with female mosquitoes beating their wings 500 times per second at a frequency of 450 to 500 hertz.
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This frequency corresponds to the musical note A, the standard tuning pitch for orchestras.
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The sound you hear is most likely from a female mosquito, as male mosquitoes don’t bite humans and typically won’t be buzzing close to your ears. Instead, males often feed on flower nectar.
Why mosquitoes buzz around our ears
Rising global temperatures are driving mosquitos — and the diseases they carry — to new geographic areas.iiievgeniy/Getty Images
They follow the scent of carbon dioxide
Mosquitoes circle our heads because that’s where we emit the most carbon dioxide. This attracts female mosquitoes, prompting them to search for a host.
Female mosquitoes require a blood meal after mating in order to generate eggs. They use specialized techniques to track down their next victim, with the carbon dioxide emitted from human bodies serving as a key attractant.
They fly back and forth, following the increasing concentration of carbon dioxide until they find its source.
However, most mosquitoes don’t actually want to bite areas around our heads because they are not as attracted to them. Instead, they may prefer to target our feet, which contain microorganisms that emit attractive odours.
In conclusion, while male mosquitoes are attracted to this tone, humans find it irritating. Male mosquitoes are drawn to the sound of a high-pitched drone.
They use their higher-frequency wingbeats to listen for the melodies of females when searching for mating partners.
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