A new study by American engineers has shown how biting behaviour and the anatomy of the proboscis of the mosquito Aedes egypti, can be used to develop painless biomimetic micro-needles.

The main finding is that the elastic mateial at the base of the proboscis seem to the main reason why the proboscis, which is a long and thin hollow tube, does not buckle while penetrating the skin and tissue.

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Source:
Ramasubramanian, MK, Barham, OM and Swaminathan, V (2008). Mechanics of a mosquito bite with applications to microneedle design. Bioinspiration & Biomimetic 3. doi:10.1088/1748-3182/3/4/046001.