Quote:
Originally Posted by kaiser
That picture is awful, well - the arm looks awful.
That poses an interesting question.
Why does the horsefly bite, and why is it this painful?
A mosquito bites for nourishment, and the bite itself is painless, the mosquito tries to survive the ordeal, even to the point of injecting a bit of anesthetic!
A wasp or a hornet bites in defense, you know all about it! and survival of the animal is not important.
Why does the horsefly bite? Nourishment for the female to produce eggs! Why then does it hurt so much?
Does not make evolutionary sense to me.
Which is of course of secondary importance to the OP, with whom I sincerely commiserate.  |
Hi K, I happen to be an authority on poisonous spider bites of the testicles
but in answer to your question, the horse fly’s mandible is what makes these bites so painful. The mandible is essentially the insect’s jaw. It’s shaped like scissors and can cut right into the skin.
The mandible is also equipped with small hooks to help the horse fly lock in to feed better. Once the horse fly is locked in, it eats the blood from the skin. This bite can cause a sharp, burning pain.