How are mosquito mouthparts adapted for blood-feeding?

• A. They are piercing-sucking, featuring a long proboscis with stylets for slicing skin and accessing blood vessels.
• B. They primarily chew and grind tissue before feeding.
• C. They filter feed using water-like saliva.
• D. They use suction without piercing; they drain blood from open wounds.

Answer: (B)

The main idea is that mosquitoes feed using piercing-sucking mouthparts, not chewing. Their adult mouthparts form a long, slender proboscis that houses sharp stylets derived from the mandibles and maxillae. These stylets work together to pierce the host’s skin and reach a blood vessel, while the labium acts as a sheath and the labrum–epipharynx creates the central canal through which the blood is drawn. Saliva injected during the bite contains anticoagulants (and sometimes anesthetic components) to keep the blood from clotting and to ease feeding, all of which supports efficient suction through the mouthparts. Descriptions involving chewing and grinding tissue, or filtering-like feeding, or draining blood without piercing, don’t fit how mosquitoes actually obtain blood.