Who do mosquitoes «like» the most? Why do they bite some people more? [WE EXPLAIN]

Not all are mosquito favorites. Occasionally, in a group of people, some are bitten severely, while others do not seem to be attracted to blood-drinking insects at all. What do mosquito preferences depend on? Explains the parasitologist Dr. Jarosław Pacoń.

1. There are several theories about the preferences of mosquitoes, however, from a scientific point of view, they do not reflect the reality
2. In fact, however, there is something that makes some mosquitoes particularly tasty
3. Everything crashes against sweat, specifically its smell. In certain situations, it becomes particularly attractive to mosquitoes
4. More information can be found on the Onet homepage.

Mosquitoes are attracted by the blood type? There are no such studies

Among the most popular theories about who is especially attracted to mosquitoes is blood type. Some are supposed to be more attractive to insects than others. Group 0 would be the most appetizing for mosquitoes. What does science say? It turns out that not much.

– As for the blood type theories – they are not scientifically proven. The blood group would have to manifest in sweat somehow, explains Dr. Jarosław Pacoń.

At the moment, there is no evidence that this is actually happening, and therefore that this theory would make any sense.

The herb pyrethrum, which has an antiseptic effect, has a soothing effect on mosquito bites.

Mosquitoes are attracted by a specific color of clothes? This is another myth

The theory according to which blood-drinking insects are more likely to sit on people who wear dark colors of clothes (black or navy blue) is also very popular. Therefore, it is often recommended to dress in white outdoors to avoid itchy bites. Does it actually make sense? Only in theory.

“There are indeed theories that the colors can affect mosquitoes,” says the specialist. – An example is the African tse tse fly, which does not like bright colors, which means that it attacks black people more often. What is the reason for this? Against a dark background, this insect is less visible. Observation of this phenomenon resulted in the creation of special dark screens that acted as huge flysticks.

This does not mean, however, that the same rules apply to our native mosquitoes.

– Unfortunately, this type of sensitivity to colors does not apply to insects from our climate zone – the expert emphasizes.

It really attracts mosquitoes. It’s about the smell of sweat

While the two most popular theories are not scientifically validated, that doesn’t mean we still don’t have an answer to the mystery. It turns out that there is actually something that attracts mosquitoes to us. And at the same time, we have a big influence on it. It’s about drinking alcohol.

– These are individual differences – explains the specialist. – It is mainly determined by various types of alcohol compounds that are excreted with sweat, and precisely whether they are at all, and if so, in what amount. The smell of our sweat depends on them. As a result, it may happen that out of four people walking by the water, two will be severely bitten by mosquitoes and the other two will be “almost intact”.

Research shows that mosquitoes especially like the sweat of beer drinkers. The bad news is that 300 ml of the drink is enough to become attractive to an annoying insect.

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We encourage you to listen to the latest episode of the RESET podcast. This time we devote it to one of the ways to deal with stress – the TRE method. What is it about? How does it release us from stress and trauma? Who is it intended for and who should definitely not use it? About this in the latest episode of our podcast.