Study Reveals Top Mosquito Attractants: Body Odor Trumps Carbon Dioxide
A recent study conducted by researchers from the US and Zambia has identified the scents that attract mosquitoes the most.[0] The study, which centred on the African malaria mosquito species, Anopheles gambiae, took place in a testing area equivalent to the size of an ice rink in Zambia.[1] The researchers built a 20-by-20-meter flight cage arena, where they released 200 mosquitos and tracked their activity using infrared motion cameras.[2] The study found that the insects had a significant preference for body odour as compared to carbon dioxide bait.[3] Additionally, mosquitoes were less likely to buzz over to scents with lots of the chemical eucalyptol, found in plants like sage and eucalyptus trees.[4] The study is one of the first to test how the Anopheles gambia mosquitos locate human hosts over longer distances in a ‘real world’ setting.[5] The researchers found that one volunteer who had a different body odour composition consistently avoided the mosquito’s attention.[6] The researchers hope that these findings contribute to the development of more effective repellants and traps.[7]
0. “What mosquitoes are most attracted to in human body odor is revealed” WISN Milwaukee, 20 May. 2023, https://www.wisn.com/article/mosquitoes-attraction-human-body-odor/43942932
1. “Why some people attract mosquitoes and others don't” KMZU, 19 May. 2023, https://www.kmzu.com/news/national/why-some-people-attract-mosquitoes-and-others-don-t/article_07e0ebf9-4498-5f71-852a-91a57f05a4eb.html
2. “Scientists Built a Giant Human Scent Buffet to Learn How Mosquitoes Find Us” Gizmodo, 19 May. 2023, https://gizmodo.com/scientists-built-a-giant-human-scent-buffet-to-learn-ho-1850455372
3. “Scientists discover which body odours mosquitoes prefer” Cosmos, 19 May. 2023, https://cosmosmagazine.com/health/scientists-discover-which-body-odours-mosquitoes-prefer/
4. “How mosquitoes find tasty humans from hundreds of meters away” Earth.com, 19 May. 2023, https://www.earth.com/news/how-mosquitoes-find-tasty-humans-from-hundreds-of-meters-away/
5. “Human body odor critical for mosquito host-seeking behavior over long distances, study finds” News-Medical.Net, 19 May. 2023, https://www.news-medical.net/news/20230519/Human-body-odor-critical-for-mosquito-host-seeking-behavior-over-long-distances-study-finds.aspx
6. “Are you a mosquito magnet? It might be for one unpleasant reason” New York Post , 21 May. 2023, https://nypost.com/2023/05/20/mosquitos-may-be-more-interested-in-biting-you-for-this-odd-reason
7. “Perfectly smelly? Mosquitoes hunt for the right body odors before biting humans” Study Finds, 19 May. 2023, https://studyfinds.org/mosquitoes-hunt-for-body-odors/
