News Animals

Mosquitoes get the ‘I’m full’ signal from their butts, not their brains

Chemicals released from the rectum control the insects’ appetite

An Aedes aegypti mosquito with blood in its belly

When an Aedes aegypti mosquito feeds on blood, its rectum cells signal when to stop biting.

Joao Paulo Burini/Moment/Getty Images

By Jake Buehler

Mosquitoes have an appetite dampener in their derrières.

When mosquitoes’ bellies are full, special cells in their rectums block their bloodthirst, researchers report March 20 in Current Biology.