Mosquitoes are attracted to specific cues that vary from person to person. Some of these cues include how much carbon dioxide you exhale, your body heat, skin bacteria, and even your blood type.
Some people really are more attractive to mosquitoes. And if you’re one of them, you know just how annoying this can be. There are real, measurable differences in how attractive different people are to mosquitoes, and unfortunately, most of the reasons why are not ones you can control.
Carbon dioxide is the primary long-range signal mosquitoes use to find hosts. People who exhale more CO2—generally larger adults, pregnant women, and people who have been exercising—attract mosquitoes from a greater distance. This is why kids often get bitten less than adults at the same gathering, and why the person who just mowed the lawn seems to get swarmed.
Mosquitoes are able to sense heat as well as carbon dioxide. This helps them find exposed skin when it’s nearby so they know where to bite. People who tend to run warm or who sweat more produce stronger signals for the mosquitoes to find.
Skin bacteria are also another factor. Each of us is a biome to a variety of microbes on our skin, and some of these microbes can produce volatile compounds that mosquitoes can detect. Research has shown that people with less diverse skin bacteria can be more attractive to mosquitoes, which is part of why mosquitoes seem to prefer biting ankles and feet.
Blood type is another similarly important factor. Some studies have shown that people with Type O blood are also universal donors to mosquitoes. People with Type A and Type B blood often have less trouble with mosquitoes.
Clothing color also matters at close range as well. Mosquitoes are visual hunters at short distances, and are drawn to dark colors like navy, black, and dark red to a greater degree than light colors.
What’s frustrating here is that most of these factors are not ones you can change, aside from wearing lighter clothing or using a good repellent. But that doesn’t mean you can’t do anything about the problem. If you're tired of being the mosquito magnet on your Princeton property,Mosquito Squad of Princeton can help. Mosquito Squad reduces the mosquito population across your yard by up to 90% for 21 days at a time, so there are fewer mosquitoes targeting anyone, including you.
