NORTHWEST
MOSQUITO &
VECTOR CONTROL
DISTRICT
UPDATE
Presenter:
Q: Are some people more
prone to mosquito bites?
If you think you might be the person most likely to get bitten by a mosquito… you may really be more attractive than others....
If this topic is of an immediate interest to you, again, you are not alone: It is one of the most common questions asked to
entomologists and mosquito control professionals.
A Google scholar search for “different-humans-mosquitoattraction” yields: 36,000 results. This is a highly-studied question.
That mosquitoes are likely to bite some people more often than others is scientific fact! You can complain at your leisure, you have science on your side.
Q: Why are some people
more likely to be bit?
Bottom line: Smell
Some of the factors are:
- Blood type: a study found that mosquitoes landed on people with Type O blood nearly twice as often as those with Type A) - Carbon dioxide: If you are a larger person, you probably release more carbon dioxide as you breathe
- Exercise and metabolism: lactic acid, uric acid, ammonia, etc these are components of sweat
- Skin bacteria: USDA scientists point to our feet as a culprit - Beer: Yep, just one 12-oz beer can increase the feast - Pregnancy: Since pregnant women tend to have a warmer body temperature… totally unfair!
Q: How do I protect myself?
- The number one way is to avoid mosquitoes
- Eliminate standing water on your property and
encourage neighbors to do the same
- Avoid times when mosquitoes are active, which is generally evening, but different species are active at different times - Wear an U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (USEPA)
registered repellant
- DEET (20% formula is plenty for about 4 hrs of
protection). Some other scientifically proven formulas
are: IR 3535, Picaridin, and Oil of Lemon Eucalyptus.
Note that all of these are applied to exposed skin, not clothes.