On a sunny summer day, you go out for a walk by the park. However, when you come back you noticed something on your leg. There is a red bump forming on your leg and by now it’s probably itchy. That’s right, you just got a mosquito bite. Everyone experienced mosquito bites before and as we all know, mosquito bites are annoying, itchy and ugly. Many people believe that mosquitos are only attracted to a certain blood type, blood type O. However, this isn’t necessarily true. There are more to it than a simple blood type.
It is true that mosquitoes prefer to bite some people over others, however the preference is not based on the blood type. To start off, not all mosquitoes bite humans. Only female mosquitoes bite humans because they need blood to develop fertile eggs. According to Jerry Butler, PhD, professor emeritus at the University of Florida, “People with high concentrations of steroids or cholesterol on their skin surface attract mosquitoes.” However, this doesn’t mean the person must have higher overall levels of cholesterol. This could mean that some people may be more efficient at processing cholesterol and the result remains on the surface of the skin.
“Mosquitoes also target people who produce excess amounts of certain acids, such as uric acid,” explains entomologist John Edman, PhD, spokesman for the Entomological Society of America. Mosquitoes can smell their food from up to a distance of fifty meters. So once the acid scent is out from our body, we become dinner for the mosquitoes.
Surprisingly, carbon dioxide also attracts mosquitoes. Since adults tend to give off more carbon dioxide, this is why mosquitos prefer “eating” adults to small children. According to Webmd.com, Pregnant women are more likely to attract mosquitoes because they produce a greater than normal amount of carbon dioxide. So the next time someone tells you mosquitoes are attracted to blood type O, don’t be shy to correct them!
Sources:
http://www.webmd.com/allergies/features/are-you-mosquito-magnet
http://www.wspa.com/story/25845055/certain-blood-types-attract-mosquitoes
I absolutely cannot stand mosquitos! One time I was sitting outside in my back yard tanning and as the sun started to go down I realized my back was starting to itch so much, and a mosquito had literally feasted on my back. I had 14 different mosquito bites. So it’s interesting to see what the causes are. This made me think about why mosquito bites actually itch which led me to research that. This is an article that I found about mosquitos itching that was interesting. http://www.mnn.com/health/fitness-well-being/stories/why-do-mosquito-bites-itch
I’m usually pretty lucky when I go outside. I never get a lot of mosquito bites, but when I do they swell up (I may be allergic). This article is really cool! However, now I feel bad for not letting the mosquitoes bite me because they just want to be mommy’s. 🙁 Maybe next time I won’t shoo them away so fast…