Article by Shashini Hettiarachchi
Mosquitoes are tiny insects belong to the family Culicidae . Among 3000 species of mosquitoes not more than 200 species depend on animal blood. Only Female mosquitoes bite humans and animals to get a blood meal in order to produce eggs.
But What’s so tasty about you ,to be picked over others?
There are many reasons behind this question.
1.Blood type of humans .
It is true that mosquitoes are attracted more to certain blood types. There are proofs that blood type O and A are more attractive among these tiny bugs. However blood type is not the only reason .
2.Chemicals released by human body
Mosquitoes have more than 70 receptors in its antenna to pick various smells. So they pickup on chemicals released by our bodies.
CO2 in human breath is a main compound preferred by mosquitoes . As the CO2 release is high Just after a run or a workout mosquitoes are easily attracted . Lactic acid , ammonia are some other favorite compounds of mosquitoes which are released with human sweat. These compounds smell in away which attracts these tiny insects. However if the diversity of bacteria on your skin is high then you will be less prone to mosquitoes.
🦟 Even though these compounds attracts these teeny weenie insects, they are the ones who decides whether to bite you or not. But how? Mosquitoes have the ability to analyze the heat generated on our bodies and the water vapor released by the skin. Generally they prefer a temperature which is not so hot nor cold. So considering all these reasons , mosquitoes decided whether to bite you or not.
🦟 According to scientific researches genetics also play a major role in attracting mosquitoes.
3.What we wear (Clothes)
If I say color of your clothing too attract mosquitoes , what would you say? You might think it’s funny. Mosquitoes are attracted to dark color clothing’s , because a man wearing a dark color stand out easily in a crowd. But Why?. Mosquitoes generally stay closer to the ground level, so they figure out the hosts by comparing the colors with the horizon light colors. As a result when someone wears a bright or a dark color they can be spotted easily. However this does not mean that if you wear light colors, you won’t be bitten by mosquitoes.
🦟 Mosquitoes prefer head and feet regions of the body , scientists believe that it is because of the temperature and the sweat glands distributed in those areas.
How do they bite without our conscious?
It will nearly take around 2-3 minutes for a mosquito to get full. They are risking their lives to get a blood meal. However they have specific mechanisms to bite us without our conscious. When a mosquito bites it is normal to feel itchy as soon as it pierce the skin. However they inject saliva to our blood , it contains more than 100 compounds ,from which some serve as anesthetic enzymes. As a result , we won’t feel any pain or sense until it leaves. These compounds will also prevent clotting of blood so that they can drink as much as they want. Sometimes you may have felt a nonstop itching , it is because human body might be allergic to these certain compounds in their saliva.
What scents do mosquitoes hate?
Even though mosquitoes prefer smells released by certain compounds in human bodies, they do hate certain natural scents like citronella ,clove ,cedar wood ,lavender , so as a result people sometimes uses these as mosquito repellents to get protected.
💡Did you know that mosquitoes have the ability to fly in the rain? Just imagine the size of a raindrop compared to a mosquito , yes a rain drop is much larger in size . average rain drop is 50times more heavier than a mosquito. But how can they fly in rain without being splashed after a collision with a rain drop? Some think that’s because mosquitoes fly fast enough to diverge rain drops. But that’s not the case. Average speed of mosquitoes is 1.5mph which is very slow. Reality is ,when mosquitoes are hit by raindrops they can be enveloped by the rain so they can fly without any interruptions. Even though rain cannot defeat mosquitoes , wind does. Mosquitoes are unable to fly in wind faster than 1.5mph that the reason behind the survival of mosquitoes closer to the ground surface.