Study Finds Mosquitoes Crippled by Insecticide Still Bite

Posted on May 5, 2017

Researchers at the Liverpool School of Tropical Medicine have been studying mosquitoes that have lost one or more legs because of insecticide. They have determined that these mosquitoes can still bite humans, spread malaria and lay eggs.

The researchers allowed mosquitoes with less than three legs remaining to bite them in the study.

The researchers say in a release that current guidelines dictate that "mosquitoes that survive insecticide exposure with fewer than three legs should be considered dead." The LSTM researchers say their findings indicate that these guidelines are incorrect. They found that even one or two legged mosquitoes can still bite people and then lay eggs.

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