I don't know why people call them mosquito "bites." It's more like a mosquito stabbing.

The female (and yes, it's always a female) sticks this long, narrow tube into the victim. Inside the tube are two smaller feeding tubes and razor-sharp cutting blades that help the mosquito do her work.

As the mosquito starts her blood meal, she squirts saliva into the victim's skin. The stuff in the saliva keeps the victim's blood from coagulating, making sure her meal won't be interrupted. With her proboscis in place, she goes to work, sucking out the blood she needs to create her eggs.

The proteins in the saliva are what cause those familiar bumps to swell up ... and the itching to begin.

Itching is not the worst part. The worst part is what –or who -- Ms. Mosquito may have been snacking on before and what diseases they had and what she shares with the current victim during her blood feast.

But, to me, the very, very worst part is that, tonight, I got "bitten."