FYI: How Do Mosquitoes Survive Rainstorms?

Wednesday, June 5, 2013 - 09:00 in Biology & Nature

Nature's very own tank Not even violent rainstorms can kill a mosquito Dreamstime Raindrops are to mosquitoes what falling VW Beetles would be to humans. Yet incredibly--maddeningly--they survive. How? Imagine you are walking through a park and suddenly thousands of Volkswagen Beetles start falling from the sky. They are falling at a speed that is five times as fast as you can run, so dodging them is not an option. Game over for you, right? Not if you're a mosquito. Sure, a raindrop is to the pesky insect what a Volkswagen would be to us, but mosquitoes have some natural advantages in this scenario that humans don't. The secret to a mosquito's survival during a rainstorm isn't due to any fancy maneuvers or midair acrobatics. It is a combination of their low mass, hydrophobic wings, and go-with-the-flow mentality, according to David Hu, assistant professor of mechanical engineering at the Georgia Institute...

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