Florida scientists found mosquito blood meals could help locate hidden pythons

Soon a mosquito may be assigned the job of hunting one of the Everglades’ most elusive predators. For the uninitiated, Burmese pythons are one of the most concerning invasive species in South Florida, as they can hide in dense vegetation, wetlands, and remote areas, making them notoriously difficult to find. Now, researchers have examined a strange strategy: allowing mosquitoes to discover where the giant snakes may be lurking. In the journal PLOS ONE, a study by Lawrence E. Reeves called "Interactions between the invasive Burmese python, Python bivittatus Kuhl, and the local mosquito community in Florida, USA," appears to suggest something beyond imagination, where it is thought that mosquitoes might become python detectives. The idea was based on doctoral research by Lawrence Reeves, a post-doctoral researcher at the University of Florida Institute of Food and Agricultural Sciences Florida Medical Entomology Lab in Vero Beach.