Do Mosquitoes Have Red Blood?

Mosquito Blood vs. Human Blood

Mosquitoes do not have blood that is exactly like blood found in people and other animals. However, they do have a compound called hemolymph that functions somewhat like blood does for us.

Hemolymph circulates in the mosquito’s open circulatory system and “bathes” the mosquito’s cells and organs via direct contact with the mosquito’s bodily tissues.

Composition

Hemolymph is a fluid made up of many chemicals, including:

• Water

• Inorganic salts

• Proteins

• Lipids

This functions to regulate the mosquito’s body temperature, transports nutrients and immune cells that combat foreign organisms in the mosquito’s body, plus assists in the transport of waste products produced by a mosquito.

Cells in the hemolymph fluid called hemocytes function to transport and deliver oxygen to the other cells and systems within the mosquito’s body.

In summary, this very simplistic description of a mosquito’s blood demonstrates that hemolymph provides many of the same basic functions for the mosquito that our human blood provides for us.