Only female mosquitoes bother us. Females need blood's protein to develop their ovaries and make more mosquitoes. While both males and females have antennae, the males' are much more garish, protruding like large feathers. The males' antennae act as tuning forks, resonating to the whine produced by the wings of females. During mating season, a few to a few thousand males gather together in swarms.
Any female entering the living cloud is seized immediately by a male.
Like dragonflies, mosquitoes mate in mid-air. Once fertilized by the male, the female mosquito searches for a blood donor. The female mosquito follows the trail upwind to its source. Once mosquitoes get closer, they're attracted to other cues such as dark colors, moisture in the air, and silhouettes of potential victims. Researchers found that mosquitoes responded to the cues of a calf when the calf was standing 45 feet away, as was reported in the British text, The Biology of Mosquitoes .