Why Do Mosquitoes Love Me?

My husband could walk around shirtless in a swamp and not get a single bug bite. I, however, could bundle up in layers and hide in the sun, and still get multiple bites, which would then swell into the most attractive, itchy welts. When one of our half our kids took after my husband, and the other me, I began to wonder what made one individual more attractive to biting bugs, such as mosquitoes and gnats, than another.why do mosquitoes love me

What makes bugs, like mosquitoes and biting gnats, love or hate you?

Luckily for my curious mind, this subject has actually been rather heavily studied in an effort to single out chemicals that repel mosquitoes and other bugs. 400 chemicals emitted by the human body could possibly attract or repel bugs. Your levels of each depend on your genetic makeup. Researchers have found 85% of your attractiveness to bugs is genetic. This explains how our kids inherited our bug attractiveness. The other 15% probability depends on outside factors including your diet, your clothing, your choice in hygiene products, your level of activity, and body temperature.

Things that attract mosquitoes in particular include:

-Persons with Blood type O

-High levels of lactic acid (a chemical byproduct of metabolism and muscle use)

-High body temperatures

-High Co2 output (breathing hard)

-Pregnancy

-Dark colors

-Flowery perfumes, sprays, deodorants, lotions or shampoos

-Being male

-Being of a larger statue

-Being adult, but not elderly

-Un-showered people

-Certain medications

-Movement

-Alcohol consumption, particularly beer

What can you do to reduce bug bites this summer?

Some of the factors above can actually be altered to reduce your attractiveness to bugs.

-Avoid wearing dark colors outside.

-Avoid heavy activity when not wearing bug repellent.

-Do not eat outdoors.

-Avoid using scented hygiene products.

-Don’t drink alcohol before going outside or while outside.

You can also avoid areas high in moisture as many biting bugs breed in water. In your own yard, it’s best to drain any sources of standing water, no matter how small. Mosquitoes may be attracted to body heat, but they dislike warm air temperatures. This makes yet another reason sunny days make better choices for outdoor activities.

What should you do if you’re bitten? Is there a way to reduce allergic reactions?

A paste of baking soda and water, hydrocortisone cream, or calamine lotion applied to the bite 2-3 times a day can ease itching while the bite heals. In severe reactions, where the area swells badly, you may consider taking some Benadryl or another antihistamine. In especially painful bites, an anti-inflammatory, such as ibuprofen may also be helpful.

DIY Homemade Mosquito Trap: Does it Work?

Thanks to unusual weather patterns across the nation, mosquitoes are attacking Americans in swarms—literally. Here in Alaska, I can’t open my door without 30+ little blood suckers sneaking in to bite me in my sleep. As a result, mosquito control efforts are a hot topic, and one image in particular has gone viral: a DIY mosquito trap.

In the photo (seen below) a few simple household items are used to create a two-liter bottle trap that is so coated in dead bugs it appears black. When considering in most instructions these little DIY homemade mosquito traps only require yeast, water, sugar (often brown), and a two-liter bottle, these crafty contraptions seem brilliant. Being that mosquito trap machines such as the Mosquito Magnet cost hundreds of dollars, my first question as was, “does it work?” I’m not the only one either, but when I attempted to find out all I found was others asking and no one answering, so I’ll answer.

diy homemade mosquito trap

DIY homemade Mosquito Trap instructions: (quoted via the viral mosquito trap’s photo description)

“HOMEMADE MOSQUITO TRAP:

Items needed:

1 cup of water
1/4 cup of brown sugar
1 gram of yeast
1 2-liter bottle

HOW:

1. Cut the plastic bottle in half.

2. Mix the brown sugar with hot water. Let it cool. When cold, pour mixture into the bottom half of the bottle.

3. Add the yeast. No need to mix. It creates carbon dioxide, which attracts mosquitoes.

4. Place the funnel part, upside down, into the other half of the bottle, taping them together if desired.

5. Wrap the bottle with something black, leaving the top uncovered, and place it outside in an area away from your normal gathering area. (Mosquitoes are also drawn to the color black.)

Change the solution every 2 weeks for continuous control.”

On my traps, I upped the ante by using black cloth rather than paper. Before applying it, I rubbed it on my skin for my ultra-attractive body oil application and then sprayed it with flowery perfume. I made three traps and placed them in three well-skeetered locations. There were so many even if the bottles didn’t attract them, they’d fly in from sheer numbers. One bottle had brown sugar, one white, and one vinegar and baking soda as this was an alternate recipe found on a few photos.

Did the DIY Homemade mosquito trap work?

It didn’t not work, but the photo showing hundreds of dead skeeters must have been from months of use as my bottles caught about ten mosquitoes give or take every 24 hours which isn’t even a tiny dent in our yards infestation. Worse, they attracted ants. The baking soda/vinegar bottle only caught one mosquito. Brown sugar was the most effective bottle.

Verdict? Waste of yeast, this viral DIY homemade mosquito trap photo is false hope-and advertising.

I did find some other ways to get rid of mosquitoes though, and shared them here.

 

How to Get Rid of Mosquitoes

Sadly, my kids got my genetic tastiness to bugs, except they also got their dad’s high body temperature and like to run all over the place. We live in Alaska, where mosquitoes are the size of some state’s birds and are not in short supply. Those four factors combined mean my kids currently have so many bug bites they look like they have chicken pox. We’ve tried bug spray repellents, and they seem to not help one tiny bit. In my mind, that means it’s time to get creative and find new ways to get rid of mosquitoes.

Clearing the air

I wanted to get rid of mosquitoes without doing harm to the environment, so no method listed here involves harmful chemicals like foggers.natural mosquito repellants

-Eliminate breeding sources. If possible, you should reduce any source of standing water in your area. Granted you shouldn’t go trying to drain lakes or anything, but things like next seasons tires filled with water should be dumped and stored where they can’t collect water to provide breeding sites. Keeping your grass trim will also help.

While I don’t have a lake near me, in areas where mosquitoes are killing people they use a natural bacteria called Bacillus thuringiensisisraelensis (Bt). It infects mosquito larvae, but doesn’t harm the rest of the environment. You can apparently buy these in a product called dunks at most garden stores. I also had success finding it for sale online for around a dollar a dunk. Keep in mind, however, that mosquitoes are part of the food chain. If you have a pond right by your front door, on your property, that’s one thing, but don’t go spiking all the lakes in your area.

-Plant protection. I love to garden and it turns out there are a few plants that supposedly repel mosquitoes. It certainly can’t hurt. Several herbs helpful to cooking, including basil, lemongrass, rosemary, and garlic, are on the natural repellent list. Catnip, citronella grass, tansies (also called mums), and finally, my favorite, the queen of pest control, marigolds are also said to be effective. Marigold repels basically every “bad” bug and attracts pollinators for your garden to boot.

-Recruit help. Encouraging bird and bats to nest nearby is an excellent natural and ongoing bug reduction tactic. Putting out bird feeders and nesting boxes is a great start, though other options will probably be specific to your local help. For instance, certain types of feed are more likely attract different bird species. Smaller birds like sparrows and finches that have a primary diet of insects are best.

-Get high tech. We did eventually also buy a Mosquito Magnet. These release a plume of C02 to attract mosquitoes, and then suck them in and trap them. They are semi-expensive, we got ours off Amazon as a warehouse deal for about $200, but you should see the results. The pic below was from about 12 hours. Tip, if you have high collection like this where the bugs are still alive when you trap is full, place the collector in the freezer to demobilize the skeeters so you an empty it into a ziploc to throw away. Skip homemade traps, they are a waste of yeast.

mosquito magnet

Protect yourself

Next, I looked into effective ways to get rid of mosquitoes on your person. My kids have super sensitive skin, so no chemicals for me.

-Citronella. When you do go outside, light some citronella candles. They may let off an unusual smell, but they really work. You can think of them like stinky tiki-torches.

-Organic bug sprays.This article could get long if I listed them all, but a quick Google will bring a wealth of home made bug repellent recipes, many which can be made from the plants listed above. You may have to do some trial and error. The reason some people have success with some recipes, and others don’t, is that each person has a different body chemistry and every area has different species of biting bugs.

-Be unattractive. Finally, you can make an effort to make your kids and yourself less attractive to mosquitoes. This means wearing light colored clothing, avoiding scented hygiene products and perfume, and trying your best to stay cool. Fans on low-wind days can help both to mask your high heat signature and to blow away flying bugs-literally.