Why Mosquitoes Bite Some People More Than Others

Are you a blood buffet? There are things you can do to change your snack appeal:

The unlucky 20%

Yes, mosquitoes really do prefer some people over others, and about 20% of people appear to be consistently more attractive to mosquitoes year after year.

How they starts female* mosquitoes use specialized sensory receptors on their antennae to detect carbon dioxide, body heat, odors, visual cues, and air movement. Notably, carbon dioxide from your breath can attract mosquitoes from roughly 10 meters away and activates their host-seeking behavior.

^{*this is because female mosquitoes need nutrients from blood to produce eggs, while male mosquitoes prefer to feed on nectar.}

How they narrow it down down: the mosquitoes are strongly attracted to chemicals produced when skin microbes break down sweat, sebum, and other skin secretions. Now, everyone has a unique skin microbiome, which creates a distinctive mixture of odor compounds that can make some people more attractive than others. Including to mosquitoes.

In particular, researchers have found that mosquito receptors for acidic compounds are especially important for locating humans, and people with higher levels of certain skin acids tend to attract more mosquitoes.

Things to avoid because they temporarily increase attractiveness*: heavy sweating, alcohol consumption, and pregnancy can all make a person more appealing to mosquitoes. So, while most people try to avoid sweating, and mosquitoes are not usually a deciding factor when it comes to deciding whether to get pregnant, at the very least alcohol consumption is something that can be consciously avoided.

^{*To mosquitoes, at least. Results may vary for humans!}

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Take care!