Why Are Mosquitoes Attracted to Some People More Than Other?

There is no doubt that mosquitoes are more attracted to some people than others, and it seems, to some parts of the body over others. But who is really more susceptible and why? The topic is, and has been, the subject of a great deal of government, university and private research for years. It is because there is so much that is unknown about it, and because each mosquito species can be attracted to different things.

I have gathered some information about the same through some studies.

According to the U.S. Department of Agriculture’s Agricultural Research Service (USDA/ARS), “What may be attractive to one species may not be for another. For example, some species may be attracted to human blood while others may feed only on the blood of wild or domestic animals. Since there are 4-6 dozen mosquitoes out of 2,700 worldwide that transmit diseases, it can be tricky to pinpoint an attractant”.

In addition to this, American Mosquito Association (AMA) studied that “more than 350 compounds have been isolated from odours produced by human skin, many of which attract mosquitoes as well as other biting insects. Along with these compounds, some of the characteristics that have been scientifically proven to attract the attention of mosquitoes include the following:

Carbon-dioxide – Mosquitoes are greatly attracted to carbon dioxide and it has been universally considered. It is virtually impossible to keep mosquitoes away as human expel carbon dioxide with every breath. AMA stated that “Carbon dioxide draws mosquitoes from up to 35 metres.” There is also some interesting fact showed by AMA about female side. It states that “When female mosquitoes sense carbon dioxide they usually adopt a zigzagging flight path within the plume to locate its source.”

            However, there are variations in even this attractant. If there is a group it will attract them from one person to another because in a group, carbon dioxide will be more and thus it will be more attractive target than just a single person. If we talk about a pregnant woman, she will definitely attract more mosquitoes as she tends to exhale more carbon dioxide.

Movement, sweat and heat – Mosquitoes are also attracted to visual stimuli and heat besides carbon dioxide. So if a person is very active (like playing football, badminton or other games), his/her increased exhalation, movement, sweat and heat generated in body likely to attract more mosquitoes over the person who is sedentary. Unless, that is, that sedentary person is drinking beer. A study on the same was published by National Center for Biotechnology Information (NCBI). They measured ethanol content in sweat production and skin temperature before and after ingestion of 350 ml of beer (ethanol concentration of 5.5%) by volunteers and compared with a control subject. The result shows that the percentage of mosquitoes increased and by a large number after beer ingestion.

Blood type – Another attractant is the blood type a human have. It really doesn’t matter how much care you do to avoid to be bitten by mosquitoes. You may become a primary target to them if you have the right blood. Yes, it is true and has been proved by another NCBI study. According to them, people with type O blood attract more mosquitoes as compared to person with other blood types.

Smelly feet – A person does have a great control over this attractant that came from sweaty or unclean feet. USDA research, which equated the smell with that of Limburger cheese to which mosquitoes are highly attracted, showed that carbon dioxide was combined with smelly socks proved highly attracted to many common species of disease transmitting mosquitoes.

Information gathered from results and studies done by

       ·         USDA/ARS

       ·         NCBI

       ·         AMA