My Wife is a Mosquito Magnet. I’m Not. Why?
Some people just naturally attract mosquitoes. However, certain things can make anyone significantly more attractive to them.
A warm summer evening, and our family is enjoying a barbeque in the backyard. As the sun sets, a squadron of mosquitoes flies out to feed. I am sitting a mere foot from my wife, the mosquitoes pay me no mind, and make a beeline straight for her. Before she can reach for the bug spray, she is eaten alive, and I don’t get bitten — not even once.
This makes her so mad, as it happens at almost every one of our summer barbeques. The pesky “mozzies,” as Australians call them, just seem to be attracted to her like bees to honey. It turns out that this is a common occurrence at many cookouts the world over.
Science has shown that mosquitos do indeed prefer some people to others. There are many reasons, and they range widely from pregnancy, to beer and banana consumption, and genetics. Whilst eating bananas and pregnancy might seem wildly different, there are some commonalities between these scenarios that increase a person’s attractiveness to mosquitoes.
Mosquito attractants
When a mosquito is after a blood meal they employ a three-pronged approach to find…
