Some people attract mosquitoes more than others, but you can try to make yourself less appealing to these insects.
Female mosquitoes bite humans and other animals to get a blood meal, which they need to produce eggs.
“Mosquitoes use a suite of olfactory, sensory, and visual cues to select their hosts, and some mosquito species are more selective than others,” Katie M. Westby, PhD, MSPHa vector and disease ecologist at Tyson Research Center, the field station of Washington University in St. Louis, told Verywell in an email.
These bloodsucking insects might select you as a host for many different reasons. Your skin might be emitting “a unique cocktail of chemicals” that makes you more attractive to mosquitoes, Westby said.
Infected mosquitoes can spread diseases like Zika, West Nile, malaria, and dengue. Although these mosquito-borne diseases usually aren’t common in the United States, persistent high temperatures have likely contributed to a surge in dengue fever cases in Florida, Texas, and several other states.
Only about 12 out of the 200 types of mosquitoes in the U.S. carry diseases that make humans sick. However, even the relatively harmless mosquitoes bite, and they can cause mild reactions, such as painful, itchy bumps or blisters, or severe reactions, like hives or swollen lymph nodes.
Here’s how mosquitoes choose their prey—and how you can try to avoid getting bitten.
Carbon dioxide, the gas you exhale with each breath, helps mosquitoes identify their host.
Clement Vinauger, PhDa mosquito researcher and associate professor of biochemistry at Virginia Tech, told Verywell that carbon dioxide “activates” mosquitoes, prompting them to hunt for other cues that indicate a human’s presence.
Mosquitoes can detect exhaled carbon dioxide from 30 feet away. The amount of carbon dioxide exhaled influences how mosquitoes pick their host, according to Eva Buckner, PhDan assistant professor and medical entomology state extension specialist at the University of Florida.
“Carbon dioxide is a primary attractant to mosquitoes, so people with higher metabolic rates, such as those who are pregnant or working out, exhale more carbon dioxide and are more attractive to mosquitoes,” Buckner told Verywell in an email.
Once mosquitoes detect carbon dioxide, these insects will seek certain colors that help them identify a host. A study published in 2022 suggests that mosquitoes are drawn to orange and red wavelengths, which are strongly detected in humans, regardless of skin tone.
While mosquitoes use visual cues to find their hosts, Buckner said they don’t have “super clear vision.”
“For them, it is easier to pick up contrasting colors. If you think of the sky as your background, lighter colors won’t be in contrast with the sky as much as darker colors are,” she said.
In addition to carbon dioxide and visual cues, higher body temperature also attracts mosquitoes. Wearing light colors might help you stay cool and keep the mosquitoes away.
“Mosquitoes are attracted to heat, so if a person gives off more heat, he will be more attractive to mosquitoes,” Buckner said.
“Dark colors absorb heat compared to light colors, and mosquitoes are attracted to heat. Light colors reflect heat. This means mosquitoes will be less attractive to lighter colors,” Buckner said.
Mosquitoes also use their sense of smell to pick a host. A blend of odors from sweat and the skin microbiota helps the mosquitoes decide where to land and bite. A 2022 study found an association between higher levels of carboxylic acids, a natural compound that contributes to human skin odor, on the skin and greater attractiveness to mosquitoes.
“Those different compounds that we produce through our skin tell them about the quality that we have as a host,” said Vinauger, who recently studied whether scented soaps could alter a person’s attractiveness to mosquitoes.
Vinauger’s research team found that soaps change a person’s “odor profile,” which could make someone more or less appealing to the insect.
“When you apply soap that is perfumed with other chemicals, you manipulate your odor signature to the mosquitoes, so the whole chemistry of how you smell changes,” Vinauger said.
While this study didn’t find which scented soaps were best at warding off mosquitoes, Vinauger said the mosquitoes in the experiments seemed most attracted to floral and fruity soaps but less interested in coconut scent.
Bacteria on your skin can also give off odors that might attract mosquitoes, but scientists are still learning how the skin microbiome and natural body odors appeal to these insects. However, what you can control is your home environment.
Westby said mosquitoes thrive in standing water and shady, humid environments. “By removing standing water from containers such as plant saucers, buckets, and gutters, you will eliminate their breeding grounds and hopefully reduce the number of mosquitoes in your yard,” she added.
This isn’t a perfect solution, especially if your neighbors still have mosquito-breeding grounds. For additional protection, Westby recommends using a DEET-based repellent if you plan to go outside in a mosquito-heavy area.
The Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) has an online tool to help you pick a mosquito repellant based on how long you need protection and your preferred active ingredient, including DEET, citronella, and oil of lemon eucalyptus.
“The single best way to make yourself less attractive to mosquitoes is to wear a repellant,” Westby said. “There are currently no individual-based repellants, so even if you are a mosquito magnet, you will have to use the same protective measures as everyone else.”
To minimize mosquito bites, you can wear light-colored clothing, avoid using floral-scented soaps, and keep your surroundings free of standing water. Additionally, applying a DEET-based repellent can provide significant protection when you’re outdoors.
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