# Why Are Mosquitoes More Attracted to Some People than Others? **URL:** \ **Category:** Factual Questions\ **Created:** [September 23, 2003, 2:58am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-are-mosquitoes-more-attracted-to-some-people-than-others/203234 "2003-09-23T02:58:51Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 12\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![gypsymoth3](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/85e7bf/32.png) [@gypsymoth3](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/gypsymoth3)\ **Post date:** [September 23, 2003, 2:58am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-are-mosquitoes-more-attracted-to-some-people-than-others/203234/1 "2003-09-23T02:58:51Z")
whenever i am sitting outside with a group of people, the mosquitoes always attack me the most. one of my friends guesses it might have to do with higher blood sugar. is this true? if not that, then why? ---
**Author:** ![Dogface](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/9d8465/32.png) [@Dogface](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Dogface)\ **Post date:** [September 23, 2003, 3:20am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-are-mosquitoes-more-attracted-to-some-people-than-others/203234/2 "2003-09-23T03:20:40Z")
Carbon dioxide is a major attractant for mosquitos. Likewise, there may be other chemicals you are giving off or wearing that attract them. ---
**Author:** ![rowrrbazzle](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/rowrrbazzle/32/414_2.png) [@rowrrbazzle](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/rowrrbazzle)\ **Post date:** [September 23, 2003, 7:24pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-are-mosquitoes-more-attracted-to-some-people-than-others/203234/3 "2003-09-23T19:24:46Z")
I read this recently in the NY Times (free registration required) [http://www.nytimes.com/2003/09/16/science/16QNA.html](http://www.nytimes.com/2003/09/16/science/16QNA.html) The article begins with the usual suspects: CO[sub]2[/sub], body heat and moisture, perfume. Then it says > [@](#): > > In 2001, the Queensland Institute of Medical Research in Brisbane, Australia, announced the results of a study of mosquito bites in identical and nonidentical twins… > > Statistical analyses by the institute’s genetic epidemiology lab found that 85 percent of the variation in susceptibility could be ascribed to genetic makeup. It is not known which genes are at work or what substances they might produce to cause the difference. > > The researchers were surprised to find that age made a difference in the subjects’ susceptibility… ---
**Author:** ![barbitu8](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/839c29/32.png) [@barbitu8](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/barbitu8)\ **Post date:** [September 23, 2003, 8:46pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-are-mosquitoes-more-attracted-to-some-people-than-others/203234/4 "2003-09-23T20:46:24Z")
Eat garlic. Wards off more than Dracula. ---
**Author:** ![robcaro](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/df705f/32.png) [@robcaro](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/robcaro)\ **Post date:** [September 23, 2003, 8:50pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-are-mosquitoes-more-attracted-to-some-people-than-others/203234/5 "2003-09-23T20:50:54Z")
I remember reading a book about 20 years ago named “Sugar Blues” in which it said that mosquitos are attracted mostly to people who consume sugar. Those who do not eat sugar are not often attacked by the mosquito. ---
**Author:** ![cichlidiot](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/5f9b8f/32.png) [@cichlidiot](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/cichlidiot)\ **Post date:** [September 23, 2003, 9:14pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-are-mosquitoes-more-attracted-to-some-people-than-others/203234/6 "2003-09-23T21:14:29Z")
Not so much a factual answer, as a different way to view the question. My experience is that I rarely suffer from mosquito bites, while others will be eaten alive. I’ve realized that I still get bitten, but am able to kill the mosquito, before she has a chance to get anything out of me. If I do this, I don’t ever get a bump. Other people I’ve talked with, who seem to suffer large welts when bitten, tell me, even if they kill the mosquito before she has blood in her, they still get a welt. So all of that to say - I think it’s not so much that some people are bitten more often. It’s that some people have more of a reaction to the mosquito’s venom. ---
**Author:** ![Dogface](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/9d8465/32.png) [@Dogface](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Dogface)\ **Post date:** [September 23, 2003, 9:27pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-are-mosquitoes-more-attracted-to-some-people-than-others/203234/7 "2003-09-23T21:27:27Z")
Mosquitos do not have venom. ---
**Author:** ![gypsymoth3](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/85e7bf/32.png) [@gypsymoth3](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/gypsymoth3)\ **Post date:** [September 24, 2003, 2:53am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-are-mosquitoes-more-attracted-to-some-people-than-others/203234/8 "2003-09-24T02:53:29Z")
> [@](#): > > Originally posted by Dogface > **Carbon dioxide is a major attractant for mosquitos. Likewise, there may be other chemicals you are giving off or wearing that attract them.** so the best solution would be to… stop breathing? ---
**Author:** ![cichlidiot](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/5f9b8f/32.png) [@cichlidiot](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/cichlidiot)\ **Post date:** [September 24, 2003, 3:13am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-are-mosquitoes-more-attracted-to-some-people-than-others/203234/9 "2003-09-24T03:13:36Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by Dogface \* > \*\*Mosquitos do not have venom. \*\* You’re right, it’s an anticoagulant in their saliva which causes the swelling in some people. Replace the word “saliva” where venom appears in my above post. [http://science.howstuffworks.com/mosquito.htm](http://science.howstuffworks.com/mosquito.htm) ---
**Author:** ![Speaker\_for\_the\_Dead](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/c77e96/32.png) [@Speaker\_for\_the\_Dead](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Speaker_for_the_Dead)\ **Post date:** [September 24, 2003, 3:20am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-are-mosquitoes-more-attracted-to-some-people-than-others/203234/10 "2003-09-24T03:20:57Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by Dogface \* > \*\*Mosquitos do not have venom. \*\* Let me clarify for him. The mosquitoes’ anti-coagulating agent which causes a histamine reaction. At least I think that’s it. ---
**Author:** ![Eolbo](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/d07c76/32.png) [@Eolbo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Eolbo)\ **Post date:** [September 24, 2003, 7:31am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-are-mosquitoes-more-attracted-to-some-people-than-others/203234/11 "2003-09-24T07:31:08Z")
I vaguely recall reading something alone the lines that cichlidiot wrote about. I think everyone gets bitten but some people like me react badly to the bite and so think they are being singled out. The bites give me big swollen lumps which itch intensely and its a conscious effort of will to refrain from scratching the area til its raw and bleeding. Consequently my flesh is mainly covered up even in the Australian summer to avoid the discomfort. Others dont seem to react at all. Also certain body parts for me react more, and I especially hate getting bitten on the lower arms and feet. ---
**Author:** ![green\_bladder](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/73ab20/32.png) [@green\_bladder](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/green_bladder)\ **Post date:** [September 24, 2003, 10:45am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-are-mosquitoes-more-attracted-to-some-people-than-others/203234/12 "2003-09-24T10:45:23Z")
We talked about this in [over here](http://boards.straightdope.com/sdmb/showthread.php?s=&threadid=208764) (Why do some people get more mosquito bites?). It has a few good links also.