Often referred to as the unofficial Minnesota state bird, the Culex pipiens, or common house mosquito, is a nuisance during the summer. Minnesotans are all too familiar with their relentless buzzing and itchy aftermath.

Can Mosquitoes Really Carry You Away?

Many have joked that Minnesota mosquitoes are so big they could carry you away, or that there are so many of them that they could pick you up and fly away. These humorous exaggerations are often shared around campfires or while fishing on a Minnesota lake, but the science behind it is surprisingly fascinating.

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The Science of Mosquito Lifting Power

Using ChatGPT and checking it with other available data, I’ve calculated the staggering number of mosquitoes it would take to carry off a Minnesotan. One mosquito can carry about 2.5 milligrams of weight—less than a grain of rice. So, as you can imagine, the number is HUGE!

If we assume the average weight of an adult in Minnesota is 175 pounds, that equates to 79,380 grams. Dividing that weight by the mosquito’s carrying capacity (2.5 milligrams or 0.0025 grams), it would take approximately 31.75 million mosquitoes to lift one person off the ground.

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How Many Mosquitoes Are in Minnesota?

Minnesota is home to 50 species of mosquitoes out of the roughly 3,500 species worldwide. While it’s impossible to know the exact number, it’s estimated that trillions of mosquitoes populate Minnesota during the summer.

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Assuming there are 1,000,000,000,000 mosquitoes in Minnesota, this breaks down to about 11.5 million mosquitoes per square mile. That means it would take mosquitoes from over 3 square miles to lift just one Minnesotan. So while the joke may not be literal, the sheer number of mosquitoes in Minnesota is no laughing matter!

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