The Female Of The Species ....

That the female of the species is more deadlier than the male is a given (at least according to Kipling, and in the song) ....

The Worlds Most Deadly Animal.

..... but only women, would dare to claim that they are routinely cleverer than males (😂).

However a report by Professor Frederic Tripet of Keele University, confirms that this idea may be true.

He has studied mans worst enemy ...... the ferocious mosquito, and he found that the female mozzies (only the female bites humans and takes blood), learn to dodge pesticides after as little as just one dose. "The sensory and cognitive abilities of insects enable them to modulate their behaviour to ensure their survival and reproduction". .... the clever little buggers. But my question is, so why can't they be taught to avoid humans?

But even if we got rid of Mozzies, there could be problems. In Finland, the summers Mozzie breeding grounds dried up in 2018, and as a consequence mosquito numbers fell considerably that year, and indeed some areas were even mosquito free for the first time in decades. Good news you would have thought, and certainly a silver lining to the high temperatures.

 

But, and you knew that there would be a but, the conditions turned out to be ideal for the horsefly ... which in Europe is another major pest and that can give a nasty bite. Again its only the females that have mouth parts that are able to break human skin and feed on blood. This is because only the females need a blood meal.

 

European Horsefly Biting A Human

Dr Salmela, whose field of expertise is biting midges in Lapland, said of his experiences in the northern Sodankylä region of Lapland earlier that summer. .... that "It was almost laughable how many horseflies there were,"

 

Oh and the record-breaking summer also brought bad news for Finland's dairy farmers. Lower yields of hay meant that they had to either import animal feed for winter, or send more animals for slaughter. 

 

It never rains but it pours .....