Who else sucks blood besides ticks? - briefly
Besides ticks, a variety of arthropods and vertebrates feed on blood, such as mosquitoes, sand flies, kissing bugs, fleas, bed bugs, lice, leeches, and vampire bats. These organisms pierce host skin and ingest the circulatory fluid for nutrition.
Who else sucks blood besides ticks? - in detail
Blood‑feeding organisms encompass a range of arthropods, annelids, and mammals that obtain nutrients by piercing host tissue and ingesting plasma or whole blood.
Mosquitoes (family Culicidae) locate hosts through carbon‑dioxide plumes and heat signatures. Female specimens inject saliva containing anticoagulants before drawing blood, serving as vectors for malaria, dengue, Zika, and West Nile viruses.
Sandflies (Phlebotomus and Lutzomyia spp.) transmit Leishmania parasites. Their minute mouthparts cause superficial skin punctures; saliva contains vasodilators that facilitate blood intake.
Kissing bugs (Triatominae) feed nocturnally on mammals, injecting saliva with anti‑hemostatic compounds. They are primary vectors of Trypanosoma cruzi, the causative agent of Chagas disease.
Fleas (order Siphonaptera) pierce the epidermis of mammals and birds, ingesting small blood volumes. Their saliva can transmit Yersinia pestis, the bacterium responsible for plague.
Lice (Pediculus humanus and Pthirus pubis) embed their mandibles in the skin, consuming blood directly. While not major disease vectors, heavy infestations cause anemia and secondary infections.
Bedbugs (Cimex lectularius) use a proboscis to feed for several minutes, delivering saliva with anesthetic and anticoagulant properties. They are not known to transmit pathogens but cause dermatological reactions.
Leeches (class Hirudinea) attach to host skin or mucous membranes, secreting hirudin, a potent thrombin inhibitor, to maintain blood flow. Species such as Hirudo medicinalis are used medically for anticoagulation therapy.
Lampreys (order Petromyzontiformes) attach to fish or mammals with oral discs lined with keratinized teeth, rasping tissue and ingesting blood and plasma. Their feeding can lead to significant host morbidity.
Vampire bats (Desmodus rotundus) make shallow incisions with sharp incisors, lapping blood from large mammals. Saliva contains anticoagulants, notably draculin, which prevents clotting during feeding. Bats can transmit rabies and other pathogens.
Each group employs specialized anatomical structures—proboscises, mandibles, oral discs, or incisors—and biochemical agents to overcome hemostasis, illustrating convergent evolution toward hematophagy across diverse taxa.