![](\"http:\/\/cyber.law.harvard.edu\/blogs\/static\/dowbrigade\/mosquittto.jpg\")
Once again,
\n we find ourselves in a tropical paradise where one of the few blemishes
\n on an ideal environment is the pervasive presence of that plague on the
\n outdoor lifestyle, the mosquito. Despite the all the weapons and tactics
\n modern man has developed to control these pests, screened windows and
\n doors,
\n the
\n deadly mosquito-bane DEET, spiral-shaped anti-insect incense, sleeping
\n under mosquito netting and nightly pre-bedtime mosquito safaris, between
\n the skeeters and the equatorial sun, the Dowbrigade today looks like
\n a lobster with the pox. How these tiny pests manage to avoid and outsmart
\n the dominant species on the planet remains one of the great unsolved
\n scientific mysteries of our times.<\/p>\n
This flies in the face of the prevailing theories of evolutionary biology
\n which holds that the key to mankind’s preeminence among the millions
\n of species on earth is due primarily to the enormous and highly specialized
\n human brain. Personally, we have even started to doubt the the proposition
\n that we ARE at the apex of the planet’s food chain. After all,
\n although we do eat almost all of the other plants and animals in our
\n environment, there exists one other species which regularly feeds on
\n human flesh – the mosquito.<\/p>\n
Think about it. How big can a mosquito’s brain be? As big as the dot
\n underneath the question mark at the end of this sentence? Smaller still?
\n Microscopic? And yet, who can deny the intelligence and ingenuity
\n of this tiny creature, enabling it to time and again avoid capture or
\n annihilation and achieve its goal of drinking deep from living pools
\n of human blood.<\/p>\n
It’s not just that they are tiny and hard to spot. They are experts
\n in camouflage, seeking out shadowy corners, hiding on the undersides
\n of drawers, stuck in cracks of ceiling plaster, adhering to textured
\n surfaces
\n as close to its natural coloration until the opportunity to strike undetected
\n presents itself. How do they manage to get INSIDE our mosquito netting,
\n despite the best effort of our massive intellects? How do thy know to
\n hide inside closets, in the weave of dark-colored clothing, or in places
\n we rarely go, like the unmatched sock drawer or the jumble of wires and
\n cords behind our computers? How did they figure out how to drink human
\n blood THROUGH mosquito netting, or clothing, or even caustic chemicals?<\/p>\n
And how about their incredible extra-sensory ability to hang out in
\n a strategic position, cool as cucumbers, even under intense and surreptitious
\n human observation, until milliseconds before a sweaty palm plasters their
\n perch with stinging G-force and murderous intent? It can’t be explained
\n by the dubious theory that they somehow feel the muscles in their victims
\n arm or leg tense up in anticipation of the fatal slap, because they manage
\n to do this even when alit on sheets, tables or inanimate reading material.<\/p>\n
So our hat is off to this marvelous freak of nature. Mosquitoes were
\n certainly here before humankind appeared on the Earth, and we suspect
\n they will be still be here long after we are gone and forgotten. It’s
\n a good thing they AREN’T any bigger, for if their brains were more than
\n microscopic it seems certain that they would be the masters, and we the
\n livestock, kept around in bovine ignorance merely to supply an inexhaustible
\n supply of nutritious flesh and blood. Come to think about it, how do
\n we know that isn’t already the case?<\/p>\n<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<\/table>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
Once again, we find ourselves in a tropical paradise where one of the few blemishes on an ideal environment is the pervasive presence of that plague on the outdoor lifestyle, the mosquito. Despite the all the weapons and tactics modern … Continue reading