Who, besides bedbugs, drinks blood? - briefly
Blood-feeding organisms besides bedbugs encompass mosquitoes, ticks, leeches, vampire bats, sandflies, tsetse flies, kissing bugs, lampreys, and hematophagous fish such as the Pacific lamprey. These species obtain nutrients by ingesting host blood during their feeding cycles.
Who, besides bedbugs, drinks blood? - in detail
Blood‑feeding, or hematophagy, occurs across diverse animal groups. Insects dominate the category. Mosquitoes (Culicidae) pierce skin with a proboscis, inject anticoagulants, and ingest plasma. Ticks (Ixodida) attach for days, secrete cement proteins, and draw whole blood. Fleas (Siphonaptera) bite briefly, using serrated mouthparts to lacerate capillaries. Sandflies (Phlebotominae) and biting midges (Ceratopogonidae) feed on small mammals and birds, transmitting parasites such as Leishmania and bluetongue virus.
Arachnids include certain spiders that liquefy prey tissues before sucking the fluid; however, a few species, like the blood‑feeding spider Lycosa tarantula, have been observed ingesting vertebrate blood directly.
Vertebrates exhibit hematophagy in several lineages. Vampire bats (Desmodus rotundus) make a precise incision with sharp teeth, apply an anticoagulant saliva, and consume the resulting blood pool. Lampreys (Petromyzontidae) attach to fish using suction discs, rasp tissue with keratinized teeth, and draw blood and plasma. Leech species (Hirudinea), notably Hirudo medicinalis, attach with anterior suckers, secrete hirudin to prevent clotting, and ingest blood over extended periods.
Birds such as the vampire finch (Geospiza difficilis) peck at the skin of other birds, drinking blood from wounds. Certain fish, like the candiru (Vandellia cirrhosa), infiltrate the gill chambers of other fish and feed on blood.
Parasitic worms also exploit blood. The filarial nematode Wuchereria bancrofti resides in lymphatic vessels and extracts host plasma, while the malaria parasite Plasmodium lives within red blood cells, consuming hemoglobin.
These organisms share common adaptations: anticoagulant secretions, specialized mouthparts or attachment structures, and physiological mechanisms to process large volumes of fluid. Their feeding strategies impact ecosystems, disease transmission, and, in some cases, human medicine.