Mosquitoes See More than You Would Think

Colors and smells could make you more attractive to mosquitoes. Help defend yourself with Hartford mosquito control!

If you are as much a fan of spending time in the open air as we are, you’re probably very familiar with the mosquitoes that are so prolific in our region during the outdoor living season. After a long and cold winter, such disruptions to your backyard time can be immensely frustrating, which begs us all to wonder how mosquitoes know where you are. You have likely noticed that some people tend to garner more attention from these notorious parasites than others, suggesting that mosquitoes have preferences. In decades past, there seemed to be no rhyme or reason why mosquitoes prefer to feed on some humans and completely avoid others, but the proliferation of evidence from studies suggests that mosquitoes have very keen sight, smell, and thermal sensory organs, allowing them to target us almost without fail.

In recent history, scientists have pinpointed that some people are more attractive to mosquitoes thanks to their scents, and more recently, researchers found that colors play a huge role in how mosquitoes target humans. Mosquitoes are on high alert when they detect CO2, which animals expel during the respiratory process. Thus, when CO2 is sensed nearby, mosquitoes then try to identify the prey, and color is apparently a big factor in whether or not a mosquito will seek you out. In lab experiments that used colored dots as variables, mosquitoes were sprayed with CO2 to make them believe prey was nearby, and these “activated” mosquitoes clearly preferred to target the colors red, cyan, orange, and black as their potential victims. You are likely wondering why this finding is so significant. From the perspective of a mosquito, all humans are colored some shade of red-orange due to the heat we release and mosquitoes can see, which makes us stand out as prey. White, blue, purple, and green, in contrast, were much less attractive to these insects, indicating that you should edge towards these colors when planning a summer outfit! While there are other ways to keep mosquitoes away, choosing such colors before you head into the open air could be a slight advantage, particularly if you meet the criteria of a “mosquito magnet”. If you want to keep mosquitoes away from you in the first place, however, expert mosquito control is available from your neighbors at Mosquito Squad!

Looking for Mosquito Control in Hartford?

Although mosquitoes have remarkable targeting abilities, know that you aren’t alone in the fight against these pests. For over two decades, the team at Mosquito Squad has provided neighborhoods throughout our region with powerful and reliable mosquito control solutions that are renowned for their effectiveness. With the help of our mosquito barrier treatments and our highly trained technicians, we can create a perimeter that will ensure far fewer mosquitoes will seek to enter your property in the first place. In addition, our team will apply secondary treatments to places where mosquitoes are likely to breed and shelter, decreasing mosquito populations in your yard by as much as 85-90 percent! Each of these treatments will remain effective for 21 days at a time, providing you with unmatched coverage so you can once again make the most of your yard!

Don’t let mosquitoes derail your outdoor lifestyle. Give our team at Mosquito Squad of Hartford a call today at (860) 356-3953 to learn more about us or to get started!