Why do mosquitoes always go for me and not my girlfriend?

Question

Whenever I come back from holiday – I am always covered large itchy mosquito bites, where as my girlfriend is often returns unscathed (even though we use the same products – i.e. shower gel, shampoo, insect repellent). From a mosquito’s point of view, what makes one person more ‘attractive’ than another?

Answer 1

2 REASONS:

1) your girlfriend must be using a mosquito repellant cream or lotion more often and more liberally.

2) When we see a large mosquito bite.... its actually a reaction to the bite. It means that mosquitoes bite everybody equally.... but only some people react to it. So what you have is a mosquito bite allergy. Its like how everybody eats nuts but only few people get an allergy with it. Your body is allergic to the substance that the mosquitoes inject while biting you... So the body produces more of histamines and other inflammatory products to remove/ destroy the injected material. So you get a rash.
Mosquito allergy normally remains for 6 years after the first exposure.
Whenever you get bites.. take any antihistamines like claritin or benadryl and apply some cortisone cream on each bite. To prevent use insect repellant more liberally and remain totally covered as much as possible.

Answer 2

Mosquitoes are attracted to heat, moisture and carbon dioxide
- if you breathe and perspire, you're a target, though how tasty a
target varies with height, weight and perspiration levels.

Mosquitoes are also attracted to lactic acid, which is produced by
your muscles during exercise, and released from the body through perspiration:
http://www.ars.usda.gov/is/AR/archive/feb00/mosq0200.htm

But we don't need to do anything to attract insects. We give off hundreds, maybe thousands, of natural scents that bugs, particularly mosquitoes, just love.
"So far, we have found more than 340 different chemical scents produced by human skin, and some of these attract mosquitoes. (quote from the above article)
" it appears that multiple compounds or kairomones (care-ah-mones) are needed to attract mosquitoes."

"Mosquitoes love Limburger cheese. Interestingly enough, the main ingredient in the cheese is a bacterium that can be found on the human foot,"

Larger persons tend to attract more mosquitoes, perhaps because of their greater relative heat or carbon dioxide output

Floral fragrances from perfumes, soaps, lotions, and
hair-care products may also attract mosquitoes."

People who sweat less (Anhidrotic) attract fewer mosquitoes.

-use an unscented antiperspirant to keep your sweat down
-wear light clothing. Mosquitoes are more apt to bite people wearing dark colors. ( http://www.mosquitoes.com/off_biting.shtm )
-avoid going out during the dawn and dusk periods, when mosquitoes are
most active.
-most importantly, use a repellant that contains the chemical DEET. It doesn't taste good to mosquitoes or other biting flies, so they steer clear.

Answer 3

The reason for this is that mosquitoes can smell blood, there are specific bloood types which lure the mosquitoes to the people who have that blood, and even though u guys do use the same products it will not be able to fully block the smell of blood which attracts the mosquitoes which unfortunately you might be having and not your girlfriend.

Answer 4

I found this information for you to read.
Chemical sensors - mosquitoes can sense carbon dioxide and lactic acid up to 100 feet (36 meters) away. Mammals and birds gives off these gases as part of their normal breathing. Certain chemicals in sweat also seem to attract mosquitoes (people who don't sweat much don't get nearly as many mosquito bites).

I live in Spain and have to deal with mosquitoes about 10 months of the year..And the only thing that really works is the plug ins. I use Raid the liquid one. We have the windows wide open and with one of those plugged in they just don't come in to the room.

Answer 5

Answer 1- mosquitoes are very justice loving they punish [bite] u and ur girl friend equally but ur skins histamine release system is more active and because of it the reaction so produced is more profound while in case of ur friend its too low thats why next morning all her bite mark vanishes. It is not that we immediately come to know abot the mosquito bite. It is the reaction of skin which makes us recognise it because the trunk of mosquito is less than 30 G and prick cant be felt

Answer 6

Mosquitos "see" CO2 which is expelled not only by breathing but also through your skin. When a Mosquito is looking for food, it follows the CO2 trail which will lead it to some warm blooded mammal.
It seems that you simply have a higher CO2 output than your girl friend.

Answer 7

I dont think there is a definative answer for this yet, but mosquitoes are mostly atractive to heat and CO2. Its possible your body might let off more of a certain chemical that attracts the skeeters also. Last time I checked they were still looking into what this chemical is.

Answer 8

No one really seems to know, it must be pheromones. I do know that some people are more attractive to them than others. If your girlfriend can stand the smell you could use clove oil to keep mosquitos at bay and citronella for the midges. I'm one of these attractive people and it works for me.

Answer 9

It's all to do with the blood.

Buy Avon's Skin So Soft it works for me and is considered to be the best treatment to keep the mozzies at bay.

It comes as a dry oil body spray, so take care not to get it in your eyes or on your classes.

Good luck with the mozzies. They used to haunt me until I tried this product.

Answer 10

Could be the smell of sweat. Mosquitos that bite are female. The use the blood they extract to hatch eggs. It could be either the scent of sweat, or could be the clothes that you wear may even attract them.