Why am I suddenly feeling mosquito needles?
Why am I suddenly feeling mosquito needles?
This summer and last I started feeling the bite of mosquitoes, like, not the itch, but the moment they "bite". Like a thin shot or a thin plant spike but more than fiberglass. Is there an evolutionary or environmental change to mosquitoes happening, or am I becoming immune to their numbing agent? What's happening?
Probably a different species set up near you recently. We have dozens of species near me and some are as big as flies and some are more like gnats.
The numbing agent they apply has a very short duration. So usually in my experience when you're feeling the bite, it's not the moment of bite you're feeling, but the moment that anesthetic wears off. They've hung on too long, basically.
So, it could be a difference in the mosquito population, but it could also be a difference in you, either in how quickly your blood can be sucked up by the mosquito, or how quickly the numbing agent gets processed.
You can explore this yourself pretty easily if you ever visually spot one before it bites. You can just let it bite, and then count how long it takes before you feel it. It's not long at all.
Wild guess here, could it be that OP is getting immune to the numbing agent?
No clue, I don't know what its mechanism of action is. Probably one of the less-likely possibilities though.
I was surprised by a mosquito actually hurting the other day. Most still don't.
Right? It's weird cause you're like WTF?!? What is that?!? And you look and it's a mosquito. 🙄
There are people who don't feel mosquito bites?
Most people notice the landing more than the bite, or neither at all till they start itching later.
They inject you with anaesthetic. So no, what you are feeling is not their 'bite'.
I don't feel them
There are many species with slightly different anatomy. Some with larger or smaller "beaks". Some so delicate you would never feel it.
Have you heard of heat rash (miliara rubra)?
It's not mosquitos, but your description of fiberglass and needles reminds me of this. It feels like each of my pores on my back has a needle in it when it happens.
Oh yeah I've had heat rash, in Georgia in the army. It's not pleasant at all.
Not sure. I’ve always been able to feel them.
There are many species of mosquito, maybe a new one has invaded your area recently?
now that you mention it you got me thinking about the logistics of mosquito bites lol
If I see a mosquito I feel it 100% of the time, however sometimes mosquito bites just appear where I never noticed the bite itself until it starts to itch later.
perhaps a placebo of my brain paying special attention to the area or something? idk