If you're attacked by a horde of mosquitoes every summer while your friends are calmly sipping gin and tonics on the patio without a single red dot, you're not being paranoid - there's something to it. And no, you don't have to be "sweet-blooded" (that's a myth). Science now backs up that feeling that mosquitoes aren't just annoying, blindly flying pests, but surprisingly selective gourmets.
A recent study by Dutch researchers has discovered that mosquitoes They don't make random decisions. Their behavior is heavily influenced by your body odor, which, let's face it, changes a lot depending on your daily habits. From beer to personal hygiene, everything counts. So if you think mosquitoes are only biting you because you're outdoors, think again. Your smell may be telling them: "Free choice - served!"
Why are some people more attractive to mosquitoes?
Scientists with Radboud University in the Netherlands, under the leadership of Felix Hall, conducted an ambitious survey among more than 500 music festival visitors LowlandsUsing special devices—boxes with tiny holes—the participants placed their hands inside, and the mosquitoes could smell them but not bite. Cameras recorded how many mosquitoes approached a given hand and how long they stayed nearby. This allowed the study to closely monitor their preferences without anyone becoming an actual snack.
The results were more than telling: individuals who drank beer, they were 1.35 times more attractive to mosquitoes than abstainers. But this had nothing to do with blood alcohol content – mosquitoes are not secret sommeliers. They were attracted by the altered body odor, which is produced as a result of metabolism after consuming beer. This smell, which is often not detected by humans, is recognized by mosquitoes as a signal of "warm blood worth looking at."
Besides beer, other factors were important. Participants who did not use sunscreen, they did showered less often, are they shared a bed with someone last night, were significantly more attractive targets for mosquitoes. These factors affect the skin microbiome and thus the range of odors that mosquitoes detect extremely effectively. In other words: if your smell is more “lifelike”, it will also be more interesting to mosquitoes.
What does previous science say?
This Dutch study is not the only one to find a link between the drink and mosquitoes. A previous study conducted in Burkina Faso, showed that drinking beer increases the attractiveness of the species to mosquitoes Anopheles gambiae – the main vector of malaria in Africa. Surprisingly, beer consumption had no effect on either body temperature, nor on exhaled carbon dioxide – factors that were long thought to attract mosquitoes. It all depended on – you guessed it – a change in body odor.
National Geographic added in a report accompanying the study that mosquitoes use extremely complex sensors to detect combinations of odors emitted by humans. They use this information to identify the most “promising” hosts – and apparently, beer-loving and slightly less hygienic individuals are pretty high on their list.
How to protect yourself?
Although scientists are still not sure which molecule smells best to mosquitoes, there are some simple steps you can take to reduce your attractiveness to them:
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- Regular hygiene: Showering, especially after physical activity, helps remove sweat and bacteria that affect your body odor.
- Opting for neutral creams: Creams without strong perfumes and with protective properties they can reduce the interest of mosquitoes.
- Repellents with DEET, icaridin, or eucalyptus oil they are still the most effective defense.
- Avoiding beer just before evening outdoor activities.
- Wearing light-colored, long clothing and the use of nets and fans to disrupt their flight.
Conclusion
So mosquitoes aren't just tasteless, bloodthirsty pests – on the contrary, their choice is based on a precise sense of smell that reveals a lot more about us than we think. Drinking beer, sweating after dancing, forgetting sunscreen… all of these are as inviting to them as the light of a moth. And while we can't change our body odor overnight, with a few thoughtful steps we can make ourselves significantly less interesting to mosquitoes.
