No backyard barbecue in Texas is complete without them: grilled burgers, cold juicy watermelon, and, chances are, a few itchy, red mosquito bites. But if you’re something of a “mosquito magnet,” you might find that you end up with more bites than others.
If this sounds familiar, rest assured it’s not all in your head. The science says that some people really are more attractive to mosquitos than others for a variety of reasons.
Sonja Swiger, professor of entomology at Texas A&M University, spoke with the Standard about how mosquitoes pick their dinner, and why some people are tastier than others. Listen to the interview above or read the transcript below.
This transcript has been edited lightly for clarity:
Texas Standard: Well, first we should remind folks it’s only the female mosquitoes that bite. They need those blood meals to lay eggs. But can you explain how these ladies find us? Do they smell us or have some sort of heat vision?
Sonja Swiger: Well, it’s kind of like that, right? They do have a way of determining whether there’s a host around. It is kind of a sensory that’s similar to smell.
But a lot of it has to do with CO2 production. That is the first thing that they’re looking for. And obviously humans and other mammals give off CO2, and that’s what they detect. And then temperature also adds into that as well.
So what does the science say about why some people are more prone to mosquito bites than others? Am I breathing more or is my temperature hotter?
You know, possibly. I don’t know if we’ve quite pinpointed it directly down to how are you and how are you not more attractive. It’s just we can come up with some kind of resolution as to why some people may be more attractive than another person.
I’m one that’s real attractive as well. So am I one of those that’s putting off more CO2? Potentially. Maybe that’s what it is. Maybe I have a nice scent that they’re really wanting to come after.
Really, it’s a lot of discovery, still, to determine what exactly is it that makes them want you more than another person.
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I’ve heard that it could be blood type – like there really are flavors of blood that are more preferable. Is that something you’ve looked into?
Personally myself, no. But there are researchers who have done that study, and there was a study conducted where they found that individuals with the type O blood were bitten more often than others. But it was only a little bit more than if you had type B or type A/B blood. You know, there’s kind of all those different interactions.
But the one that they found to be the most unattractive was type A. So does that mean, no, you won’t get bitten if you’re a type A? Probably not. It just may mean that if somebody around you is a type O, they may get more bites than you’ll get.
I also feel like I am living proof that that is not true, because I am type A. Now I do love bananas, and I have heard that also could be a contributor – what you eat. Is that a thing I should consider changing? Does diet contribute to what mosquitoes are attracted to?
You know, again, there’s been research showing that your diet can play a role in that. It’s always been kind of like, “oh, well, if I eat this, they won’t come and bite me” kind of thing. But it is unique that bananas have been found to kind of maybe make you more attractive.
I personally would not give up bananas just because of that. There are other things we can do to stop them from biting us, so that we don’t have to give up healthy foods or the things that we really like. But there is evidence that shows that even people that consume more garlic than others may be more of a deterrent to the mosquitoes than those who don’t eat a lot of garlic. But again, there’s so many factors.
So if you’re already highly attractive and you throw in all of these, will that be enough to counteract the fact that you’re already an attractive individual to the mosquitoes? Or will it not? I really can’t say 100% that, yes, adding more garlic is going to stop them from biting you, but there may be things that may make you more attractive to them.
Well, of course there are ways we can all protect ourselves from mosquito bites. There’s repellent, there’s wearing long sleeves and long pants – kind of loose clothing. Avoiding those hours when they’re most active. What other things should we suggest? Should we go out and get these garlic pills?
If you want to. I don’t know if I’m going to go and jump on that bandwagon, because I don’t want the garlic breath to go with it, but there are other things you can do.
Avoidance is obviously the most important one. Avoiding being outside at times when mosquitoes are going to be most active. And of course, that’s not always easy to do. But if you have that option, definitely do that.
Be sure you are shutting your doors and your windows in the evening and have screens if you’re going to leave them open, because several mosquitoes will come in the house. And sometimes you’ll know they’re there and sometimes you won’t and they’ll bite you later. So you don’t want that either.
But there’s so many repellent options on the market. Deet and picaridin are found to be the most effective at keeping those mosquitoes from finding you. And then there’s a lot of products nowadays that you can set outside with you if you’re going to be on the porch that supposed to be keeping the mosquitoes away from you, or they’re a kind of a trap that will track the mosquitoes to the trap instead of to yourself.
