Before we all start getting too blissful about the warmer weather rolling in, let’s have a quick review of who likes to party crash: mosquitoes. Their reputation precedes them to where the mere mention sends your thoughts to several horrible places: Zika, West Nile virus, itchy welts, and allergic reactions. If you’re a mosquito magnet this short video demonstrates several reasons why those bloodsuckers are always after you:
Depending on where you live, you may be more prone to seeing them on a regular basis. But what makes you a target is based more on science than myth. Out of the 3,000-plus types of mosquitoes, only 200 or so species like to bite people. And it’s only the females that bite.
They start showing up as the weather gets warmer and their eggs begin to hatch. You know they like water: ponds, lakes, puddles, or a little birdbath in your yard. They like humidity too, like the kind found in damp or swampy places. But do you know why mosquitoes love some people more than others?
What Makes You Attractive
Mosquitoes’ sense of smell can remind you of sharks, and their vision relies on color. With that in mind, here are a few things that make you an alluring snack: carbon dioxide, bacteria, clothes, body odor, and beer.
Larger folks expel a higher amount of carbon dioxide when exhaling, and mosquitoes can smell breath from over 50 yards away. Yikes! In some areas, pregnant women are preferred as they emit higher levels of CO₂ too.
It’s not hard for them to find a teeming stream of carbon dioxide when the right conditions are present. People who exercise, have just had a beer, or metabolize cholesterol quickly ooze CO₂. Alcohol or a jog ups your metabolism, which in turn boosts your carbon dioxide output, making you sweet meat to mosquitoes. In other instances, your pores help send all the right messages to them.
Your warm, odorous body will make you a mark— or not. Your natural body odor can attract or repel mosquitoes based on genes. Mosquitoes love bodies where certain scents are on the surface of skin— like an apple pie right out the oven. Lactic acid, uric acid, bacteria, and sweat are favorites, but your own chemistry plays a role too.
Walking around in a musty funk is like an open invitation. But scientists have found that some people have natural scents that drive mosquitoes away. It’s genetic. Your friend may be spared simply because she doesn’t smell good to mosquitoes.
Could it be the way you move or the clothes you wear? Clothing that blends in with light tends to keep them away, while dark colors like black and blue are mosquito charmers. Red attracts their attention as do moving targets.
