Yes, the first attempts via the more obvious approach of using a live mosquito were a lot trickier, because the techniques required in persuading the mosquito to comply were outside of the specialist knowledge base of the team. That is, until one serendipitous moment when a heavy-handed researcher accidentally killed a mosquito whilst trying to attach it to a printer. The surprise and elation that must have resulted when they realised they could use mosquito husks was, surely a sight to behold. The missing piece of the puzzle had finally fallen into place… some might even say by Divine Providence.
I daresay some of the project leads were kicking themselves nonetheless: “It’s so simple! Dead mosquito proboscises! Dead! Why didn’t I think of that?!”, etc. But I think we should go easy on those people; we could all get a doctorate in the field of hindsight!
In the end, just like many discoveries before, penicillin, safety glasses, velcro etc., this breakthrough owes a lot to blind chance.