Mosquitoes in Sudbury attacked by bloodsuckers

David Marks noticed something odd about some of the mosquitoes that tried biting him at a greenhouse in Sudbury, Ont., so he snapped a few pictures. 

"These things were flying around, and they had this visible weight on them," said Marks.

He described the mosquitoes as bright red, and said they flew slower than other mosquitoes. 

It turns out the mosquitoes, while looking for a blood meal of their own, were being attacked by tiny aquatic mites.

Mites are tiny arachnids

Bruce Doran, staff scientist at Sudbury's science centre Science North, said mites are a member of the arachnid family, and were sucking the blood from the female mosquitoes.

"It's kind of funny that we have a female mosquito being attacked by a blood sucker," Doran said, adding that people don't need to worry about being bitten by these particular mites. 

"Aquatic mites don't bite humans," he said. 

Doran said it's unusual to see so many mites on one mosquito, adding that this particular mosquito would likely die from the attack. 

It's payback time

Doran said studies have looked at the possibility of using mites as a biological way to control mosquito populations, but those studies have been inconclusive. 

The man who found the mite-infested mosquito, David Marks, considers the mites to be "a bit of payback."