MOSQUITOES FIND YOU IRRESISTIBLE FOR A REASON

Picture me this, you’re planning a big ol’ BBQ at your home; you have a great backyard, gorgeous green lawn, massive Wolf grill, poll with a grand slide, the works. So, everyone comes over, the sun starts setting and what do you usually hear at this point? Ah, a mosquito bit me.

Now, it may not necessarily ruin your BBQ, but it is something to think about and you know you have some relatives, friends or even you consistently say, I don’t know why but, mosquitoes love me, my blood must be very sweet.

There may not be any added sugar in your blood for mosquitoes to love that person (that is, if mosquitoes liked sugar) but, they are not too far off.

According to a recent study scientists found that an estimated 20 percent of people, it turns out, are especially delicious for mosquitoes depending on certain factors such as, blood type.

The Smithsonian magazine states, “Mosquitoes bite us to harvest proteins from our blood—research shows that they find certain blood types more appetizing than others. 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”.

So, you may not be able to change your blood type for less mosquito bites; however, certain factors such as carbon dioxide emission, metabolism and exercise are things we can control in order to appear less appealing for these annoying insects.

“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 164 feet away,” the Smithsonian states.

 

In terms of exercise, mosquitoes enjoy our sweat and are drawn to higher body temperatures. So, if you do enjoy a nice run in the park, make sure you use some form of insect repellant to help your cause.

 

Other contributors relate to genetics, color (possible attracted to reds, blacks and dark blues), beer and skin bacteria. Now, this is not to say you need to change your lifestyle; simply, understand the you may be more appealing to mosquitoes than your fellow friends because of these factors.

Since you can’t change everything, buy a bug zapper and a dozen insect repellants and maybe they will stay away.