Continuing my series on the mosquito, since my last post, I have been bit no less than five times by these rotten pests. I must have looked like a karate champion as I tried to bat away these flying vampires. While I did get hit, several didn’t make it to attack me again.
You know that high pitch humming sound you hear just before a mosquito lands on you and bites. That is made by a mosquito's wings that beat 300-600 times per second. All mosquitoes require water to breed. 
Some species can breed in puddles left after a rainstorm. Just a few inches of water is all it takes for a female to deposit her eggs. Tiny mosquito larva develop quickly in bird baths, roof gutters, and old tires dumped in vacant lots. If you want to keep mosquitoes under control around your home, you need to be vigilant about dumping any standing water every few days.
An adult mosquito may live 5-6 months. Few probably make it that long, given our tendency to slap them silly when they land on us. But in the right circumstances, an adult mosquito has quite a long life expectancy, as bugs go. Have you ever felt like every mosquito within ten square miles comes buzzing straight for you as soon as you step outside? We often ask why mosquitoes prefer some humans over others. Well, it all comes down to how good you smell (or bad, depending on your perspective). Mosquitoes have very acute receptors in their antennae and heads that can detect human scents up to 100 feet away.
Scents are one of the primary indicators mosquitoes use to identify their prey. Mosquitoes are attracted to the carbon dioxide we exhale, both the scent and the amount. There are many sources of CO2 in nature, so it isn’t just the carbon dioxide that attracts mosquitoes. Every time we exhale, we release chemicals like lactic acid, octenol, uric acid and fatty acids that combine with CO2 to form our own unique carbon dioxide cocktail. This combination of scents is what clues mosquitoes that there is a human target nearby. And some of these particular combinations are more attractive to mosquitoes. Additionally, the more CO2 we emit, the easier we are to recognize. The scent and amount of carbon dioxide you exhale is unique to you and your genetics, and unfortunately there isn’t much you can do to change your attractiveness other than mask your scent.
Bacterial colonies combined with sweat generate that sweet (if you’re a mosquito) human scent we call body odor.
Our sweat is one of the more attractive scents for mosquitoes, particularly the malaria-carrying Anopheles gambiae, which prefers to bite humans. There are measures you can take like washing regularly to reduce body odor; however be careful of fragrant perfumes and scents that can also draw mosquitoes. Fresh sweat is not as attractive because it has not combined with bacteria. About 80% of us are “secretors” or people who secrete compounds known as saccharides and antigens through their skin and indicate blood type. Mosquitoes are magnets for secretors. Once again, your classification as a secretor or non-secretor is determined by your biology and there isn’t anything you can do to put yourself in the non-secretor category. Depending on the type of blood you have, you secrete different scents.
Studies have shown that mosquitoes are most attracted to Type O blood and least attracted to Type A. No changing your blood type either. Lactic acid is emitted through your skin when you are active or eating certain foods. Mosquitoes are more attracted to people with a greater build-up of lactic acid on their skin. You can reduce lactic acid by washing with soap after exercising and thoroughly drying. Scent is the primary indicator for mosquitoes that a human target is within striking distance. There are also other indicators like body heat, moisture, movement and color that attract mosquitoes’ highly attuned receptors. In my next post, I will show you what works and doesn’t work to repel these pests. Feel free to leave comments and please hit the “Like” button at the bottom of this post.
