In nature, besides mosquitoes, many other species also seek out this protein-rich liquid.
Many insects prefer a diet of blood, from lice to mosquitoes, bed bugs, and fleas, but it turns out there are many other species that also seek this nutritional source.
Hairy-legged Vampire Bat (Photo: Gabriel Mendes/Getty).
Blood contains oxygen and various nutrients essential for the brain and other parts of the body. However, not all animals have blood, such as insects.
Why Do Animals Live Off Blood?
At first glance, blood may seem like a strange food source, but that’s not the case. Blood is rich in proteins and lipids; the challenge lies in how to absorb these nutrients from blood.
As often depicted in horror movies, blood-feeding species have “tools” to penetrate their prey’s bodies, such as sharp teeth, needle-like proboscises, or sharp beaks.
Additionally, a crucial factor is the special chemical methods that keep the blood flowing, suppress the host’s immune system, and, of course, help avoid retaliation from the prey.
Blood-Feeding Species
Vampire Bats
When thinking of vampires, the animal that easily comes to mind is the bat. However, out of more than 1,200 bat species, only one subfamily, Desmodontinae, has evolved to prefer a diet of blood.
A colony of White-Winged Vampire Bats (Diaemus youngi) in Rock Garden Tunnel, Colombia (Photo: Daniel Romeo/Getty).
This species of vampire bat hunts mammals or birds by listening for their breathing and, when approaching, sensing the heat of the blood just under the skin to find a spot to bite. A single bat can double its weight after a blood meal.
The only bat species that feeds on human blood is Desmodus rotundus. They can transmit rabies to bitten individuals. However, their saliva contains a substance that humans have utilized to create the drug desmoteplase, which increases blood flow for stroke patients.
Oxpeckers
Three Red-Billed Oxpeckers perched on a giraffe in Kruger National Park, South Africa.
Oxpeckers primarily feed on ticks, but they also enjoy blood, often that of livestock. They peck at their prey to induce bleeding, which allows them to drink. These poor livestock are highly susceptible to infections from these wounds and take a long time to heal.
Candiru Fish
This fish is dangerous and bizarre.
This catfish is believed to be capable of entering the genitalia of unfortunate individuals who encounter it in the water, although such incidents are rare. Nevertheless, this alone is enough to categorize them among the most dangerous and bizarre fish.
Typically, candiru fish seek to enter the gills of other fish to siphon blood from their victims’ arteries. They can follow their prey for thousands of kilometers to sustain themselves on the nutrient-rich blood without having to prepare their food.
Suckerfish
This species is one of the marine mammal’s foes.
Suckerfish inhabit the ocean and are among the enemies of marine mammals. Like salmon, suckerfish also make upstream migrations seasonally before returning to the ocean with their newborns.
An adult suckerfish feeds by attaching its suction-cup mouth, tongue, and sharp teeth onto the skin of whales and some other fish to extract blood.
Vampire Moths
At some point in history, this species shifted from a “herbivorous” diet to exclusively consuming human blood.
Originally a fruit-eating moth, for reasons unknown, at some point in history, this species transitioned to exclusively feeding on human blood. They use their hooked and serrated mouths to pierce human skin and drink blood.
Vampire Finches
When food becomes scarce, these birds become bloodthirsty.
This seemingly adorable finch species is native to Wolf Island and Darwin Island in the Galapagos archipelago. Their primary diet consists of seeds and insects, but when these become scarce, they turn to blood.
They target seabirds and use their long beaks to peck at the blood vessels at the base of the prey’s feathers. The islands they inhabit are among the driest in the Galapagos, which may explain their need to find ways to survive.
