Why do mosquitoes eat me alive and leave others alone?Edit: Looking for NEW information! Not the same ole.
Why do mosquitoes eat me alive and leave others alone?Edit: Looking for NEW information! Not the same ole.
Any new research this year?
44 comments
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Mosquitoes generally feast on dweeb lords.
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:(
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What I heard
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Several factors.
- Genetic trait that attracts mosquitoes and biting insects.
- Dietary sugars including no-sugar supplements.
- BO and FO as well as high metabolism that produces significantly higher body temps and CO2 volume in breath.
BO = Body odour. FO = Foot odour.
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Mosquitoes find their prey using three senses:
First by CO2, as mammals will be releasing it in big quantities (though they also bite reptiles). Second, by body smell, which as others here have mentioned, diet and genetics may dictate how it is affected. Third by shape (that's when they are already there) and are trying to figure out where to stick it.The first one is hard to fix, so for the second I'll recommend icaridin or, if not available DEET, and in gel form not spray. DEET can be a skin irritant, hence why is less preferred.
Spray though is sometimes used when applying it to clothing, as it also may have your smell attached to it.
For the third one, I haven't seen conclusive data but a lot of observational studies: from wearing light-colored ample clothing that doesn't define the limbs to (I guess) wearing stripes like a zebra.
Sources: https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC7945690/ https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC4173961/ https://www.nih.gov/news-events/nih-research-matters/how-mosquitoes-detect-people https://www.nature.com/articles/s41598-022-22333-7 https://publichealth.jhu.edu/2023/the-chemistry-of-mosquito-attraction
And a lifetime in humid climates like the Bayou.
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I was once told by a doctor that everyone gets bitten about the same amount, but some people just don't get a reaction.
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I'm skeptical - I was recently eating outside literally watching three of them come at my ankles while people sitting right beside me were being left alone.
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What I heard
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I've definitely heard there's a genetic element where some people just smell or taste yummy to them. I don't have any research or anything tho. From personal experience, I think I get bitten more if I'm eating much sugar, or drinking alcohol, possibly because of a slightly higher body surface temp, or smell/taste different with more blood sugar.
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Anecdotal, but I think there's some kind of immunity component. My parents grew up in a mosquito infested country. When we visited said country, us kids were bitten up while my parents were fine. If it was genetics, you think it would've been passed on to us. The locals commonly joked that mosquitos like "new blood." You could see tourists with itchy red bite reactions while the locals were fine.
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I get a welt for about the first half-dozen bites in the spring, then I don't react for the rest of the year. I think there's a histamine response that gives up after a while.
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Veritassium did a quit good video on this here
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The most recent research I can find is from 2019 that showed significant preferred on O type.
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Studies newer than this 2019 one?
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I had a friend who would catch them out of the air and eat them, said it kept them from biting him.
I don't know. If I am outside with others (like on the porch or in the yard - not counting wilderness areas where they are aggressive) I don't get bitten but if I am alone they do bite me.
I do run cold, can stay cool in warm weather, don't sweat easily, and I breathe quite slowly. So my money is on warmth and CO2 as the biggest factors. Other people are probably louder and distract them away from me.
ETA This was interesting too, maybe you really are mosquito bait.
https://publichealth.jhu.edu/2023/the-chemistry-of-mosquito-attraction
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holy shit your buddy sounds unhinged
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Which is why he is left alone and hence is a relevant answer.
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Are you blood group O? Mosquitoes seem to have a preference for certain blood types, specifically group O.Seems like the paper was missinterpreted by a news article and by myself.
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(P<0.05; 0.00) seems incidental with the study size and honestly I can't see how could they smell the blood type.
(I'm not saying they can't, I'm saying I would like to know how.)
I'm saying it may be incidental because the paper doesn't define if the population from where mosquitoes fed had a higher or lower O-type density, nor their distribution.
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This guy mosquitoes.
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Yes, you're absolutely right.
I read the claim about the correlation between mosquito bites and blood type in a news article where this paper was linked as the source. This teaches me (again) to not blindly trust any news articles without verifying the information.
Thanks for pointing it out.
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get tested for diabetes; you're probably not diabetic but an astoundingly large portion of the population is pre-diabetic.
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Mostly diet. (update: when I say diet, I mean the last 3 months of diet, not what you ate today)
Avoid sugars, eat garlic and spicy food.
There are some genes that affect how you smell, and how you perspirate. But diet dominates
Update: let me explain diet more, what you eat determines your body's metabolic state, and the body's hormones. Both of those have a huge impact on how the body off gases the pheromones released the heat produced the oils manufactured.
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I don't believe this. My daughter and I get bit as soon as we step outside. My wife and son don't even put on bug spray.
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Because only you can see the giant mosquitos
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https://scholar.google.com/scholar?as_ylo=2023&q=mosquito+preference&hl=en&as_sdt=0,5
Not sure what you're looking for with 'new information', but here's a link to a Google Scholar search with a variety of articles published in the last year.
Just skimming it, gut microbiome, surface temperature, and age are all factors.
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There's some reports that the interaction of soaps and shampoos influence how tasty a person smells, so it might be worth trying different products.
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There's definitely the genetic component too, but the scents from soap is an interesting thing to test out.
And for what it's worth some types of oil of lemon eucalyptus works reasonably well, if you don't want to use DEET. https://www.consumerreports.org/health/insect-repellent/oil-of-lemon-eucalyptus-insect-repellents-a7989538414/
Some friends really like this stuff "Repel Lemon Eucalyptus Insect Repellent2 Pump" and consumer reports also thinks it works pretty well.
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Mosquitoes literally when they suck my blood. It doesn't happen often but I make sure to let them bite me so I can watch them suffer.
44 comments