On Tuesday, an article published in Scientific American revealed that mosquitoes find some people significantly more attractive than others.
The studies co-author, Leslie Vosshall, a neurobiologist and mosquito expert, said, “My mother, my sister, people in the street, my colleagues — everybody wants to know.” She added, “The question of why some people are more attractive to mosquitoes than others—that’s the question that everybody asks you.”
In the study, 64 participants were examined, and it was concluded that a person’s body odor is a key factor.
Researchers discovered that people with skin that produces more significant levels of carboxylic acid were more appealing to mosquitoes than those with skin that made less carboxylic acid.
During the study, researchers used nylon stockings to capture the scent from the participants’ arms for six hours. They then cut the nylon and placed them into containers with female Aedes aegypti mosquitoes.
It was also found that the acid levels produced over time did not change with a person’s diet or habits. This means that if mosquitoes like you, they’ll always like you.
“This property of being a mosquito magnet sticks with you for your whole life — which is either good news or bad news, depending on who you are,” Vosshall told the outlet.
Scientists are looking to figure out why mosquitos love carboxylic acid so much.
In an interview with Scientific American, Maria Elena De Obaldia, a senior scientist, explained that since Aegypti mosquitoes bite humans instead of animals, it’s natural that they learn how to distinguish human odors from animal ones.
According to De Obaldia, mosquitoes are drawn to humans because we emit much more carboxylic acid than animals do.
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