Why Are Some People More Mosquito-Attractive Than Others?

You’re sitting on the bench in a park with a group of your best friends. Everybody’s having a fun time reminiscing over funny events and sharing stories about horrible bosses. Hours pass, it’s time to head home and then realisation hits you – you’re the only one who has tons of itchy red mosquito bites on their body!

Ah yes, those all too familiar moments where you become a delicious meal to nature’s blood-sucking fiends.

While you’d be glad to know that you’re not the only one experiencing this situation (an estimated 20% of people are especially delicious for mosquitoes), it’s honestly one of the most mind-boggling and annoying problems — why do some people have the tendency to attract mosquitos more than others?

Turns out, there are logical reasoning and explanations to this quandary. Below are some reasons why some people are (sadly) better mosquito magnets:

Smelly Feet

Based on Dutch scientist Bart Knols experiment on himself, nature’s vampires love the pungent smell of dirty feet. So, as a safety precaution, wear socks when you’re entering a mosquito-laden environment.

Beer Drinkers

If you’ve just had some beer, you’d most likely become more attractive to mosquitos. This is deduced via The Journal of the American Mosquito Control Association (AMCA) and is explained by the increase of one’s ethanol excretion.

Blood Type O

According to a Japanese study, mosquitoes prefer to feed on people blood type O because they are ‘tastier.’

Darker Coloured Attire

The saying rings true – black clothing do indeed attract mosquitos. As mosquitoes use vision to locate humans, wearing colours that stand out to them (e.g. black, dark blue or red) make you easier to find.

Pregnancy

Mommas-to-be have been found to attract approximately twice as many mosquito bites as others. This may be because pregnant women tend to exhale more carbon dioxide and have warmer body temperatures when compared to others.

Oh, and if you’ve read this post a sting or two too late, we’ve got you covered - ’6 Tried and Tested Natural Remedies For Mosquito Bites.’

Source from MYLAUNCHPAD