Dreamstime

By Lynn C. Allison From Newsmax

Now that summer is finally here, so are pesky mosquitoes to spoil outdoor fun. Scientists say that certain colors and scents seem to attract the insects, making some people more susceptible to bites than others.

“If you think you are a mosquito magnet, it’s probably the case,” says Jeffrey Riffell, a professor in the department of biology at the University of Washington. “Some individuals are bitten way more than others.”

According to TIME, Riffell and his colleagues say that male mosquitoes drink nectar from flowers to obtain sugar, while female mosquitoes drink blood to help lay eggs. Mosquitoes are “vampires,” he says, and are skilled at finding their victims. They follow scent cues such as chemicals humans emit from their skin and the carbon dioxide gas we exhale when we breathe.

Riffell says that mosquitoes love the colors red and black but tend to dislike white and green. They’re smart, says the biologist. If they find you attractive and drink your blood, they will come back for more.

Climate change is opening up new habitats for mosquitos, according to a University of Washington news release, including those that transmit the West Nile virus. Mosquito-borne illnesses kill hundreds of thousands of people each year. In fact, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) has labeled the mosquito “the world’s deadliest animal.”

The CDC says that the insects spread diseases like malaria, dengue, West Nile, Zika, and chikungunya, killing more people than any other creature in the world.

Knowing what attracts mosquitos, males to flowers and females to people, can help researchers develop better methods to contain these insects. Mosquitoes detect three different sources of sugar and one of the main sources is fruit. Traps that kill or poison mosquitos could be more effective if they exude the right mosquito-attracting scent.

“The information that we’re developing and finding in the laboratory has real world implications and can really help, I think, many people in many different parts of the world,” says Riffell.

Lynn C. Allison ✉

Lynn C. Allison, a Newsmax health reporter, is an award-winning medical journalist and author of more than 30 self-help books.

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