An Anopheles stephensi mosquito obtaining a blood meal from a human host through its pointed proboscis. Note the droplet of blood being expelled from the abdomen after having engorged itself on its host’s blood. This mosquito is a known malarial vector with a distribution that ranges from Egypt all the way to China.

Hematophagy (sometimes spelled haematophagy or hematophagia) is the habit of certain animals of feeding on blood (from the Greek words, haima, "blood", and phagein, "eat"). Since blood is a fluid tissue rich in nutritious proteins and lipids that can be taken without enormous effort, hematophagy has evolved as a preferred form of feeding in many small animals such as worms and arthropods. Some intestinal nematodes, such as Ancylostomids, feed on blood extracted from the capillaries of the gut and about 75% of all species of leeches (e.g. Hirudo medicinalis)^{[citation needed]}, a free-living worm, are hematophagous. Some fish, such as lampreys, and mammals, especially the vampire bats, also practice hematophagy. Image File history File links An Anopheles stephensi mosquito is obtaining a blood meal from a human host through its pointed proboscis. ... Image File history File links An Anopheles stephensi mosquito is obtaining a blood meal from a human host through its pointed proboscis. ... Bloodsucker may refer to: Bloodsucker, an animal that practices hematophagy Bloodsucker, a song by Deep Purple from their 1970 album Deep Purple in Rock Bloodsucker, a 1994 Maxi-CD 1994 by Paralysed Age Bloodsucker, a song by Agnostic Front from their 1998 album Somethings Gotta Give Bloodsuckers (TV Movie... For other uses, see Animal (disambiguation). ... Feeding is the process by which organisms, typically animals, obtain food. ... Human blood smear: a - erythrocytes; b - neutrophil; c - eosinophil; d - lymphocyte. ... A representation of the 3D structure of myoglobin, showing coloured alpha helices. ... A polyunsaturated triglyceride. ... For other uses, see Worm (disambiguation). ... Subphyla and Classes Subphylum Trilobitomorpha Trilobita - trilobites (extinct) Subphylum Chelicerata Arachnida - spiders,scorpions, etc. ... This article or section does not cite any references or sources. ... For other uses, see Leech (disambiguation). ... For other uses, see Fish (disambiguation). ... Subfamilies Geotriinae Mordaciinae Petromyzontinae A lamprey (sometimes also called lamprey eel) is a jawless fish with a toothed, funnel-like sucking mouth. ... Subclasses & Infraclasses Subclass †Allotheria* Subclass Prototheria Subclass Theria Infraclass †Trituberculata Infraclass Metatheria Infraclass Eutheria Mammals (class Mammalia) are warm-blooded, vertebrate animals characterized by the production of milk in female mammary glands and by the presence of: hair, three middle ear bones used in hearing, and a neocortex region in... Genera Desmodus Diphylla Diaemus Vampire bats are bats that feed on blood (hematophagy). ...

Mechanism and evolution of hematophagy

These hematophagous animals have evolved different specialized mouth parts and chemical agents for penetrating vascular structures in the skin of hosts, mostly of mammals, birds and fishes. This type of feeding is known as phlebotomy (from the Greek words, phleps, "vein", and tomos, "cutting"). male human mouth The mouth, also known as the buccal cavity or the oral cavity, is the orifice through which an organism takes in food and water. ... Beyond overall skin structure, refer below to: See-also. ... For other uses, see Bird (disambiguation). ... For other uses, see Fish (disambiguation). ...

Once phlebotomy is performed (in most insects by a specialized fine hollow "needle" called proboscis which perforates skin and capillaries; in bats by sharp incisor teeth that act as a razor to cut the skin), blood is acquired either by sucking action directly from the vases, or from a pool of escaped blood, or by lapping (again, in bats). In order to overcome natural hemostasis (blood coagulation), vasoconstriction, inflammation and pain sensation in the host, biochemical solutions in the saliva for instance, for pre-injection, anesthesia and capillary dilation have evolved in different hematophagous species. In fact, new anticoagulant medicines have been developed on the basis of substances found in the saliva of several hematophagous species, such as leeches (hirudin). In general, a proboscis (from Greek pro before and boskein to feed) is an elongated appendage from the head of an animal. ... This article does not cite any references or sources. ... A humans visible teeth. ... Hemostasis refers to a process whereby bleeding is halted in most animals with a closed circulatory system. ... The blood vessels are part of the circulatory system and function to transport blood throughout the body. ... An abscess on the skin, showing the redness and swelling characteristic of inflammation. ... “Hurting” redirects here. ... Saliva is the watery and usually frothy substance produced in the mouths of humans and some animals. ... Anesthesia or anaesthesia (see spelling differences) has traditionally meant the condition of having the perception of pain and other sensations blocked. ... An anticoagulant is a substance that prevents coagulation; that is, it stops blood from clotting. ... Hirudin is a naturally ocurring peptide in the salivary glands of medicinal leeches (Hirudo medicinalis) that has a blood anticoagulant property. ...

Hematophagy can be classified into obligatory and optional practice. Obligatory hematophagous animals do not have any other type of food besides blood; one such species is Rhodnius prolixus (an assassin bug from South America). Contrast that with optional hematophages, like the many mosquitoes species, such as Aedes aegypti, which may also feed on pollen, fruit juice and other biological fluids besides blood. Sometimes, only the female of the species is a hematophage (this is essential for egg production and reproduction). Subfamilies Harpactorinae Peiratinae Tegeinae Triatominae etc. ... Diversity 41 genera Genera See text. ... joyce This page is a candidate for speedy deletion. ... SEM image of pollen grains from a variety of common plants: sunflower (Helianthus annuus), morning glory (Ipomoea purpurea), prairie hollyhock (Sidalcea malviflora), oriental lily (Lilium auratum), evening primrose (Oenothera fruticosa), and castor bean (Ricinus communis). ... For other uses, see Fruit (disambiguation). ... A human ovum Sperm cells attempting to fertilize an ovum An ovum (plural ova) is a haploid female reproductive cell or gamete. ...

Hematophagy has apparently evolved independently in many disparate arthropod, annelid, nematode and mammalian taxa. For example Diptera (insects with two wings, such as flies) have eleven families with hematophagous habits (more than half of the 19 hematophagous arthropod taxa). About 14,000 species of arthropods are hematophagous, even including some genera that were not previously thought to be, such as moths of the genus Calyptra. Several complementary biological adaptations for locating the hosts (usually in the dark, as most hematophagous species are nocturnal and silent, in order to avoid detection and destruction by the host) have also evolved, such as special physical or chemical detectors (for sweat components, CO₂, heat, light, movement, etc.). Classes and subclasses Class Polychaeta (paraphyletic?) Class Clitellata*    Oligochaeta - earthworms, etc. ... Classes Adenophorea    Subclass Enoplia    Subclass Chromadoria Secernentea    Subclass Rhabditia    Subclass Spiruria    Subclass Diplogasteria    Subclass Tylenchia The nematodes or roundworms (Phylum Nematoda from Greek (nema): thread + -ode like) are one of the most common phyla of animals, with over 20,000 different described species (over 15,000 are parasitic). ... Suborders Nematocera (includes Eudiptera) Brachycera Diptera (di - two, ptera - wings), or true flies, is the order of insects possessing only a single pair of wings on the mesothorax; the metathorax bears a pair of drumstick like structures called the halteres, the remnants of the hind wings. ... WING ESPN 1410 is a commercial AM radio station in Dayton, Ohio operating with 5,000 watts at 1410 kHz with studios, offices and transmitter located on David Road in Kettering. ... Suborders Nematocera (includes Eudiptera) Brachycera Wikispecies has information related to: Diptera True flies are insects of the Order Diptera (Greek: di = two, and pteron = wing), possessing a single pair of wings on the mesothorax and a pair of halteres, derived from the hind wings, on the metathorax. ... A moth is an insect closely related to the butterfly. ... The genus Calyptra (Ochsenheimer, 1816) is a group of moths in Subfamily Catocalinae of family Noctuidae. ... The eye is an adaptation. ... A nocturnal animal is one that sleeps during the day and is active at night - the opposite of the human (diurnal) schedule. ... SWEAT is an OLN/TSN show hosted by Julie Zwillich that aired in 2003-2004. ... In order to meet Wikipedias quality standards, this article requires cleanup. ... For other uses, see Heat (disambiguation) In physics, heat, symbolized by Q, is energy transferred from one body or system to another due to a difference in temperature. ... This article does not cite any references or sources. ...

Medical importance

Medicinal leeches on the animal market in Istanbul

The phlebotomic action opens a channel for contamination of the host species with bacteria, viruses and blood-borne parasites contained in the hematophagous organism. Thus, many animal and human infectious diseases are transmitted by hematophagous species, such as the bubonic plague, Chagas disease, dengue fever, filariasis, leishmaniasis, Lyme disease, malaria, rabies, sleeping sickness, St. Louis encephalitis, tularemia, typhus, Rocky Mountain spotted fever, West Nile fever and many others. ImageMetadata File history File links Download high resolution version (1920x2560, 2151 KB) medicinal leeches (hirudo medicinalis, medicinale bloedzuiger) - sold for indications: eczema, varices and aphrodisiacum - animal market, Yeni Mosque, Istanbul - - own picture File links The following pages link to this file: Leech Hematophagy ... ImageMetadata File history File links Download high resolution version (1920x2560, 2151 KB) medicinal leeches (hirudo medicinalis, medicinale bloedzuiger) - sold for indications: eczema, varices and aphrodisiacum - animal market, Yeni Mosque, Istanbul - - own picture File links The following pages link to this file: Leech Hematophagy ... Istanbul (Turkish: , Greek: , historically Byzantium and later Constantinople; see other names) is Turkeys most populous city, and its cultural and financial center. ... Phyla Actinobacteria Aquificae Chlamydiae Bacteroidetes/Chlorobi Chloroflexi Chrysiogenetes Cyanobacteria Deferribacteres Deinococcus-Thermus Dictyoglomi Fibrobacteres/Acidobacteria Firmicutes Fusobacteria Gemmatimonadetes Lentisphaerae Nitrospirae Planctomycetes Proteobacteria Spirochaetes Thermodesulfobacteria Thermomicrobia Thermotogae Verrucomicrobia Bacteria (singular: bacterium) are unicellular microorganisms. ... Stop editing pages god ... A parasite is an organism that spends a significant portion of its life in or on the living tissue of a host organism and which causes harm to the host without immediately killing it. ... This false-colored electron micrograph shows a malaria sporozoite migrating through the midgut epithelia. ... The bubonic plague or bubonic fever is the best-known variant of the deadly infectious disease caused by the enterobacteria Yersinia pestis. ... Dengue fever (IPA: ) and dengue hemorrhagic fever (DHF) are acute febrile diseases, found in the tropics, with a geographical spread similar to malaria. ... Lyme disease (Borreliosis) is a bacterial infection with a spirochete from the species complex Borrelia burgdorferi, which is most often acquired from the bite of an infected Ixodes, or black-legged, tick, also known as a deer tick. ... Malaria is a vector-borne infectious disease caused by protozoan parasites. ... Sleeping sickness or African trypanosomiasis is a parasitic disease in people and animals, caused by protozoa of genus Trypanosoma and transmitted by the tsetse fly. ... St. ... Tularemia (also known as rabbit fever) is an infectious disease caused by the bacterium Francisella tularensis. ... For the unrelated disease caused by Salmonella typhi, see Typhoid fever. ... Binomial name Rickettsia rickettsii Wolbach, 1919 Wikispecies has information related to: Ixodidae Wikispecies has information related to: Rickettsia Rocky Mountain spotted fever is the most severe and most frequently reported rickettsial illness in the United States, and has been diagnosed throughout the Americas. ... West Nile fever (West Nile encephalitis) a febrile illness caused by West Nile virus, that is transmitted from birds to the common Culex mosquito and then to people. ...

Among the hematophagous insects of medical importance are the sandfly, blackfly, tsetse fly, bedbug, assassin bug, mosquito, tick, louse, mite, midge, chigger, and flea. Sandfly biting a humans little finger Sandfly is a colloquial name for any species or genus of flying, biting, blood-sucking Dipteran encountered in sandy areas. ... Blackfly was a Canadian sitcom which ran on the Global Television Network for two seasons. ... Binomial name Glossina morsitans The tsetse fly, Glossina morsitans, is a fly (order Diptera) that eats blood from animals, including humans. ... Wikibooks has a book on the topic of Bedbug Genera & Species Genus Cimex Cimex lectularius Cimex hemipterus () Cimex pilosellus Cimex pipistrella Genus Leptocimex Leptocimex boueti Genus Haematosiphon Haematosiphon inodora Genus Oeciacus Oeciacus hirudinis Oeciacus vicarius Bedbugs (or bed bugs) are small nocturnal insects of the family Cimicidae that live by... Subfamilies Harpactorinae Peiratinae Tegeinae Triatominae etc. ... Diversity 41 genera Genera See text. ... Families Ixodidae - Hard ticks Argasidae - Soft ticks Nuttalliellidae - ????? ticks Wikispecies has information related to: Ixodoidea Tick is the common name for the small arachnids that, along with other mites, constitute the order Acarina. ... Suborders Anoplura (sucking lice) Rhyncophthirina Ischnocera (avian lice) Amblycera (chewing lice) Lice (singular: louse), also known as fly babies, (order Phthiraptera) are an order of over 3,000 species of wingless phthiraptra. ... Look up mite in Wiktionary, the free dictionary. ... Midges on a car Midges are small, two-winged flying insects. ... Look up Chigger in Wiktionary, the free dictionary. ... For other uses, see Flea (disambiguation). ...

Recently, hematophagous organisms have been used by physicians for beneficial purposes (hirudotherapy). Some doctors now use leeches to prevent the clotting of blood on some wounds following surgery or trauma. The anticoagulants in the laboratory-raised leeches' saliva keeps fresh blood flowing to the site of an injury, actually preventing infection and increasing chances of full recovery. In a recent study, a genetically engineered drug called desmoteplase based on the saliva of Desmodus rotundus (the vampire bat) was shown to improve stroke patients Hirudotherapy is the scientific name for the use of leeches for medicinal purposes. ... Saliva is the watery and usually frothy substance produced in the mouths of humans and some animals. ... Desmoteplase is a chemical in the saliva of vampire bats. ... Stroke (or cerebrovascular accident or CVA) is the clinical designation for a rapidly developing loss of brain function due to an interruption in the blood supply to all or part of the brain. ...

Human hematophagy

Drinking blood and manufacturing foodstuffs and delicacies with animal blood is also a feeding behavior in many societies, although forbidden in Jewish and Muslim societies. African Maasai mainstay food, for instance is cow blood mixed with milk. Some sources say that Mongols would drink blood from one of their horses if it became a necessity. Black Pudding is eaten in many places around the world. Some societies, such as the Moche, had ritual hematophagy, as well as the Scythians, a nomadic people of Russia, who had the habit of drinking the blood of the first enemy they would kill in battle. Some religious rituals underline the importance of metaphorical hematophagy, such as in the transubstantiation of wine as the blood of Jesus Christ during Catholic eucharist. Psychiatric cases of hematophagy as a symptom also exist. Sucking one's own blood from a wound is also a behaviour commonly seen in humans, and in small enough quantities is not considered taboo. Finally, real or imagined, human vampirism has been a persistent object of literary and media attention. Languages Maa (ɔl Maa) Religions Monotheism Christianity The Maasai are an indigenous African ethnic group of semi-nomadic people located in Kenya and northern Tanzania. ... A glass of cows milk. ... The name Mongols (Mongolian: Mongol) specifies one or several ethnic groups. ... Black pudding (Boudin noir), before cooking Black pudding or blood pudding is a sausage made by cooking blood with a filler until it is thick enough to congeal when cooled. ... The Moche civilization (alternately, the Mochica culture, Early Chimu, Pre-Chimu, Proto-Chimu, etc. ... Approximate extent of Scythia and Sarmatia in the 1st century BC (the orange background shows the spread of Eastern Iranian languages, among them Scytho-Sarmatian). ... For other uses, see War (disambiguation). ... Main article: Eucharist (Catholic Church) Transubstantiation (in Latin, transsubstantiatio) is the change of the substance of bread and wine into the body and blood of Christ occurring in the Eucharist according to the teaching of some Christian Churches, including the Roman Catholic Church. ... Wikipedia does not yet have an article with this exact name. ... For other uses, see Eucharist (disambiguation). ... Vampirism is a term used differently in popular culture and in zoology. ...

See also

• Hirudotherapy
• Natural reservoir
• Tick-borne disease
• Transmission (medicine)
• Zoonosis
• Vampire
• Mosquito
• Assassin bug

Hirudotherapy is the scientific name for the use of leeches for medicinal purposes. ... Natural reservoir or nidus, refers to the long-term host of the pathogen of an infectious disease. ... Tick-borne diseases are diseases or illnesses transmitted by ticks. ... In medicine, transmission is the passing of a disease from an infected individual or group to a previously uninfected individual or group. ... Zoonosis (pronounced ) is any infectious disease that may be transmitted from other animals, both wild and domestic, to humans or from humans to animals (the latter is sometimes called reverse zoonosis). ... Philip Burne-Jones, The Vampire, 1897 Vampires are mythological or folkloric beings that subsist on human and/or animal lifeforce. ... Diversity 41 genera Genera See text. ... Subfamilies Harpactorinae Reduviinae Stenopodainae Emesinae Apiomerinae Ectrichodiinae Peiratinae Tegeinae Triatominae etc. ...

References

• Scharfetter C, Hagenbuchner K. Blutdurst als Symptom. Ein seltsamer Fall von Bluttrinken. Psychiatr Neurol (Basel). 1967;154(5):288-310.'
• Ciprandi, A; Horn, F; Termignoni, C. Saliva of hematophagous animals: source of new anticoagulants. Rev. Bras. Hematol. Hemoter., 2003, vol.25, no.4, p.250-262 PDF full text
• Markwardt F. Hirudin as alternative anticoagulant -- a historical review. Semin Thromb Hemost. 2002 Oct;28(5):405-14. Medline abstract
• Ribeiro JM. Blood-feeding arthropods: live syringes or invertebrate pharmacologists? Infect Agents Dis. 1995 Sep;4(3):143-52. Medline abstract

External links

Look up bloodsucker in Wiktionary, the free dictionary.

• Galun, R. Evolution of Hematophagy
• Beaty, LC. Host-Seeking Behavior in Hematophagous Mosquitoes
• Biopharm. Company specialised in providing medicinal leeches.