Summer is fast upon us in the northern hemisphere, and the warming temps herald the coming of the familiar and foreboding sound of mosquitos buzzing through the air. The buzzing sound they produce is of course a function of their wing beats and mosquitos have the ability to modify the speed at which they beat their wings.
It turns out the the fundamental frequency for the wing beat of a male is 600 hertz (vibrations per second) and the female is slightly slower at 400 hertz. Cornell entomologists Ron Hoy and Laura Herrington have discovered that male and female mosquitos (Aedes aegypti), which are deadly vectors for yellow and dengue fever, court by matching the frequency of their wing beats. To create this harmonic duet, the female and male mosquitos adjust the harmonic resonance of their thoracic boxes to produce a harmonic frequency that converges at 1,200 hertz, which is the female’s third harmonic and the male’s second (thrice and twice the respective fundamental frequencies).
The male’s fundamental frequency is a “D” in musical terms and the female is a “G,” but when the two approach prior to mating, the adjustments they make create a “perfect fifth” and consequently a harmonizing overtone at 1,200 hertz. The perfect harmony is a signal that they are fitting partners and the two then mate on the wing.
The mating process of mosquitos offers a beautiful analogy for the nature of any truly creative process. I imagine that you’ve had the experience of “clicking” with another, where decisions you make together unleash a whole new range of creative influence or you’ve studied critical times in history where various opinions harmonized, such as in the drafting and approval of the United States Declaration of Independence. Such are times when the whole creates much more than the sum of the parts would indicate prior to their harmonic convergence.
I believe that every interaction you have with a fellow human being is an opportunity for harmonic convergence, for discovering that meeting point which allows for a creative outcome which far exceeds anything that would be produced as a result of simple compromise. We tend to aim so low in politics, medicine, education and just about any other field of human activity and rather than sitting back in my easy chair and complaining about it, it is my aim to discover the harmonic possibilities in all for which I am responsible.
Life can and should be a constantly changing love song and not a drudgery or a “bitch” as so many proclaim. That love song requires a mental, emotional and physical flexibility as well as well-developed sense of listening. Most people are so consumed with the dissonances in their worlds that they forget that they have a role in unlocking the consonance!
Gregory Hake 
I appreciate finding consonance with your blog as well as those commenting. It is good to be part of a unifying creative frequency emerging in our world.
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Who would have imagined what could be learned from the daily doings of a pair of mosquitoes! Such a symphony going on around us and within us all the time!
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This speaks alot to what our sciences have under appreciated as of late – that is, having an awareness of the reality of magnetic fields and their implications in the daily practicalities of living. Understanding that all things great and small are expressions of magnetism and as such are governed by veritable laws of universal integrity, as human beings we would conduct ourselves to a much higher standard than what we do today.
I believe in a world where honesty is the virtue that can be sustained, for it is a truth bound to the laws as the beautiful example of the mosquitos you provided. Within these laws there are infinite permutations of creation, and we need not fear limitations in these just laws for once again, the provide for countless opportunities of growth and expansion; it’s just a matter of how we look at them and how we can use the moments of our lives to benefit the whole. If that’s our consciousness, nature is free and nothing short of the wonders of life await all. If we involute and look at how we may first benefit in an exchange, the laws of integrity are broken and that creates what we call unsustainability and we get the weeds of life instead of the garden.
All this can come if the eye is opened!
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There is so much wrong with the world that it is easy and common to get caught up in lamenting that fact. Really (and I never thought I’d say this) we should be more like the mosquito! We should do our best on our own when we have to, but the ability for two or more people to create is far greater than anyone by themselves.
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A simple principle I learned years ago is helpful in this regard: “You move in the direction of your response.”
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Thank you – excellent and inspiring analogy!
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Bzzzzzzzzz. Mosquito for: “You’re welcome.”
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I won’t be able to continue being annoyed by mosquitos – they’ve provided an amazing life lesson today!
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They’re apparently an important part of the food chain from what I gather after reading an article in Equus magazine. Who knew?!?
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Fascinating & inspiring… I really enjoyed this post!
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From Yeats to mosquito sex. You can find it all at gregghake.com. Hahaha!
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