Science reveals that a variety of factors might make you more palatable to mosquitoes, from your skin microbiota and carbon dioxide emitted in your breath to the color of clothing you're wearing (with colors like red, orange, and black being the most attractive to mosquitoes).
Mosquitoes are attracted to certain chemicals, like lactic acid, which some people produce more of than others. Additionally, your metabolic rate plays a role. People with higher metabolic rates, such as pregnant women or those who are overweight, tend to produce more carbon dioxide, which mosquitoes are drawn to.
Since mosquitoes use body heat as means of honing in on a target, it's thought that mosquitoes likely land most often on those with a higher body temperature — whether that's because your internal body temperature is higher due to being in the heat or because you run hotter than other people for some other reason.
Mosquitoes: Some individuals are more attractive to mosquitoes due to factors like body odor, sweat, and even blood type. If you have a different body chemistry than your partner, you may be more prone to bites.
Mosquitoes are turned off by several natural scents, including citronella, peppermint, cedar, catnip, patchouli, lemongrass, lavender and more. You can add some of these plants to your landscaping to fend them off.
Other factors such as blood type and breathing patterns also seem to play a role. Type O blood appears to attract the pests. So does breathing heavily — such as after a workout — which exudes more carbon dioxide around you, which attracts mosquitoes.
The Rules of Mosquito Attraction
That means people who have a high metabolic rate and emit more carbon dioxide, including those who are pregnant, working out, or drinking alcohol tend to be more attractive to mosquitoes. The question of whether mosquitos prefer a certain blood type is controversial.
Basically, to avoid being a mosquito-target you should stay as scent-free as possible, wear light clothes, avoid bogs and use an effective repellent (such as those containing DEET or icaridin).
taking Vitamin B1 and Vitamin B12 supplements. eating garlic or yeast extracts, or applying them to your skin. using bath oils and skin softeners.
Some things that make you more attractive to mosquitoes include your blood type, body temperature, and how much ammonia you give off in your sweat. There's nothing you can do to change these things, but you can still take steps to make yourself less attractive to mosquitoes.
There is also some evidence women who are pregnant or at certain phases of the menstrual cycle are more attractive to mosquitoes. Other work has found that people infected with malaria are more attractive to malaria-carrying mosquitoes during their transmissible stage of infection.
Challenges of Control. Mosquito traps can be effective in killing mosquitoes, giving homeowners a sense of satisfaction. However, they often attract more mosquitoes into the area and ultimately do little to reduce the overall population.
Blood Types Mosquitoes Love Most
Type B: Type B placed second in popularity. Type A: Type A Blood Type apparently tastes the worst to mosquitoes. The study found that those with Blood Type A are 50% less likely to receive a mosquito bite than those with Type O.
There is no limit to the number of mosquito bites one of the insects can inflict. A female mosquito will continue to bite and feed on blood until she is full. After they have consumed enough blood, the mosquito will rest for a couple of days (usually between two to three days) before laying her eggs.
It seems that coconut-scented soaps are among the most repulsive to mosquitoes, although the most foolproof way to repel the pests is to use a proper repellent. “Multiple publications show that coconut-derived chemicals tend to have a repellent effect on blood-feeding insects.
EUCALYPTUS. Similar to citronella, eucalyptus has a powerful smell that interferes with mosquitoes' delicate senses and can make it difficult for them to locate their food sources. The oil from these trees also repels other insects such as ticks, midges and sandflies.
As has been found in previous studies, more mosquitoes seemed to prefer people whose scent contained a blend of carboxylic acids, the oily secretions that hydrate and protect our skin. Two of those carboxylic acids are also found in Limburger cheese, McMeniman notes, a known lure for mosquitoes.
Here are some of the reasons you might get bitten more than other people. You're Type O blood. In a 2004 study, researchers released Aedes albopictus mosquitoes to a buffet of humans and watched what happened. The mosquitoes landed on people with Type O blood nearly twice as often as those with Type A.
Mosquito bites can cause severe illnesses if the insects carry certain viruses or parasites. Infected mosquitoes can spread West Nile virus, Zika virus, and the viruses that cause malaria, yellow fever and some types of brain infection.