One study found that in a controlled setting, mosquitoes landed on people with Type O blood nearly twice as often as those with Type A. People with Type B blood fell somewhere in the middle of this itchy spectrum. Additionally, based on other genes, about 85 percent of people secrete a chemical signal through their skin that indicates which blood type they have, while 15 percent do not, and mosquitoes are also more attracted to secretors than nonsecretors regardless of which type they are.
One of the key ways mosquitoes locate their targets is by smelling the carbon dioxide emitted in their breath—they use an organ called a maxillary palp to do this, and can detect carbon dioxide from as far as feet away. As a result, people who simply exhale more of the gas over time—generally, larger people—have been shown to attract more mosquitoes than others. This is one of the reasons why children get bit less often than adults, on the whole.
Other research has suggested that the particular types and volume of bacteria that naturally live on human skin affect our attractiveness to mosquitoes. In a study , scientists found that having large amounts of a few types of bacteria made skin more appealing to mosquitoes.
Raji, Joshua I. Minard Guillaume, et al. Verhulst Niels O. Dobson, Roger. Shirai, Oshikazu, et al. Your Privacy Rights. To change or withdraw your consent choices for VerywellHealth.
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Read our editorial process to learn more about how we fact-check and keep our content accurate, reliable, and trustworthy. Related Articles. What Is pH Balance? What Causes Yellow Fever? Capillary Structure and Function in the Body. The sheer number of traditional and home remedies across cultures shows the energy and ingenuity humans have directed towards warding off these tiny creatures that are at best annoying, and at worst lethal. The link to Vitamin B is a particularly enduring theory — the web is littered with suggestions of Vitamin B patches or tablets, or eating Vitamin B-rich foods such as Marmite or Vegemite — but there has now been many research studies that have shown Vitamin B has no effect, so please people, let this theory go.
But seriously, remember it only takes one bite from one mosquito to potentially contract a disease, so protecting yourself is crucial — regardless of how much mosquitoes love or avoid you. Why do mozzies bite some people and not others?
Faculty of Science and Engineering. Our Stories. Science and Technology. Please Explain. VIDEO: Rising whale numbers a bonus for Sydney citizen scientists It's official: tough economic times ahead As mozzies get closer, thermal detectors that can clock temperature differences of around 2.
The stinky cheese connection It has been known for some time that mosquitoes are attracted to certain scents and that different species of mosquitoes vary in their preferences.
This process produces volatile gaseous fatty acids - the elixir of mosquitoes it seems. A new type of antibiotic passes its first test What is toxic positivity? Many weapons for a tiny enemy In , an extensive survey of mosquito repellents used by people around the world turned up strategies, from sonic repellers, hairspray and Windex to nets, garlic pills, vitamin B patches and even burning animal dung.
Despite the breadth of remedies, sure-fire protection really only comes from: Applying specifically designed mosquito repellent to your skin; Covering up the areas mozzies love to bite; Avoiding favoured mozzie hangouts such as wetlands, especially during dusk; Potentially avoiding friends that smell-like Limburger cheese this may or may not be a World Health Organisation recommendation.
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