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Mosquito bites can be quite irritating and painful, and in some cases leads to discomfiting allergic reactions. Have you ever wondered why mosquitoes find humans attractive? How is it possible that while some people are completely immune to mosquito bites, others experience severe swellings when bitten by these blood suckers. Why do mosquitoes have a special preference for humans when other animals can supply them with blood?
In truth, the answer to this mind boggling questions can be simple and complex at the same time. To keep yourself and your family safe from mosquitoes, it is important you first understand their behavior.
What makes mosquitoes bite?
Whenever you see a mosquito sucking your blood, 100% of the time, it is a female. Their mouth is equipped with a proboscis strong enough to bite and suck up blood from your skin. They don’t really feed on the blood they suck, but rather use it to stimulate egg production, which of course is the reason why it is only the female that bites.
What attracts mosquitoes?
Mosquitoes find moist and damp environments ideal for breeding. That water that has been left untouched for so long in your backyard will most likely have turned to their breeding ground the next time you check it up.
Why Mosquitoes find Humans Attractive?
- Blood: To produce eggs in large numbers, mosquitoes need animal blood, and human blood happens to their favorite.
- Human Breath: The female mosquito is equipped with two major sensing organs – the olfactory (also called palps) and an antennae. They use this sensory organs to track the carbon dioxide we exhale when we breathe. Mosquitoes can easily pickup this exhaled gas from a distance of 150 feet away from their target. However, carbon dioxide isn’t the only attracting signal mosquitoes are attuned to.
- The smell from your body: Researchers after years of studying mosquitoes discovered that mosquitoes are attracted by certain body fats contained in our sweat. Lactic acid, uric acid and ammonia are the commonest, and our body secrete them whenever surrounding temperature increase. If you have noticed, mosquitoes when they attack an unsuspecting victim would land on the wrists, ankles, feet and hands as this areas tend to be more exposed.
- Other reasons you can’t control: Researchers are yet to accurately figure out why the behavior of mosquitoes. In faraway Japan, researchers have proven that mosquitoes are most likely to bite individuals with Type O blood than those whose blood genotype is A. An individual’s body metabolism plays a significant role as well because it regulates body temperature. Additionally, researchers have discovered that our genetic make determines if mosquitoes would find us attractive or not.
When do they prefer feeding?
90% of the times, mosquitoes feed during dusk and dawn – day time accounts for the other 10%.
Is it only humans that mosquitoes attack?
Mosquitoes don’t only feed on human blood. Some breeds of mosquito feed on the blood of birds, and as weird as it may sound, reptiles and even certain fishes aren’t left out. Mosquitoes will never go hungry all because they couldn’t find a human host. For them, anything with blood can go.
There is virtually nothing good about mosquitoes. If they just fed on our blood without causing any serious harm like bed bugs, there would be no course for alarm. The problem, however, is that mosquitoes transmit deadly diseases like West Nile Virus, Dengue Fever, Zika Virus and a host of other diseases with their bites. Always seek immediate medical attention whenever you suspect any mosquito related illness.
