# Why do mosquitoes love my elbows? **URL:** \ **Category:** Factual Questions\ **Created:** [August 28, 2017, 9:28pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-do-mosquitoes-love-my-elbows/794959 "2017-08-28T21:28:16Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 12\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![TruCelt](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/trucelt/32/523_2.png) [@TruCelt](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/TruCelt)\ **Post date:** [August 28, 2017, 9:28pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-do-mosquitoes-love-my-elbows/794959/1 "2017-08-28T21:28:16Z")
I know, it sounds silly. But if you could see the three week’s worth of bites, of various ages and sizes, clustered around my elbows, you’d be wondering too. I’ve also got bites in various other places, but this is ridiculous. Is there any science behind where on the body bugs will choose to bites us, and why? ---
**Author:** ![Velocity](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/velocity/32/18006_2.png) [@Velocity](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Velocity)\ **Post date:** [August 28, 2017, 9:48pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-do-mosquitoes-love-my-elbows/794959/2 "2017-08-28T21:48:15Z")
I like to think that it’s because it’s a very inconvenient part of the human body for you to be able to reach and slap the bug without alerting it to fly off, but they aren’t that smart… ---
**Author:** ![Trancephalic](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/trancephalic/32/380_2.png) [@Trancephalic](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Trancephalic)\ **Post date:** [August 28, 2017, 11:19pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-do-mosquitoes-love-my-elbows/794959/3 "2017-08-28T23:19:11Z")
It’s not a hip joint, but it’ll do. ---
**Author:** ![elbows](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/b3f665/32.png) [@elbows](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/elbows)\ **Post date:** [August 28, 2017, 11:40pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-do-mosquitoes-love-my-elbows/794959/4 "2017-08-28T23:40:31Z")
Because elbows are everything! They’re sweet and special and wonderful. Y’know, in my experience! 😃 ---
**Author:** ![Colibri](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/colibri/32/1841_2.png) [@Colibri](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Colibri)\ **Post date:** [August 28, 2017, 11:40pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-do-mosquitoes-love-my-elbows/794959/5 "2017-08-28T23:40:32Z")
I assume that it’s because the skin is thinner there due to stretching from repeated movement. Mosquitoes also bite on finger joints and ankles. ---
**Author:** ![Senegoid](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/senegoid/32/6606_2.png) [@Senegoid](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Senegoid)\ **Post date:** [August 29, 2017, 3:37am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-do-mosquitoes-love-my-elbows/794959/6 "2017-08-29T03:37:24Z")
If I understand aright, flea bites tend to occur on certain areas of the body because fleas are exquisitely sensitive to the _exact_ body surface temperature at the spot where they are biting, and they find the Goldilocks spot that is Juuuuuuust Riiiiiiight. Is this true of mosquitoes too? ---
**Author:** ![Colibri](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/colibri/32/1841_2.png) [@Colibri](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Colibri)\ **Post date:** [August 29, 2017, 4:23am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-do-mosquitoes-love-my-elbows/794959/7 "2017-08-29T04:23:48Z")
Probably not. Fleas have the luxury of actually being on the body surface so they can take their time. Mosquitoes have more of a dine and dash strategy. ---
**Author:** ![Grrr](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/grrr/32/146_2.png) [@Grrr](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Grrr)\ **Post date:** [August 29, 2017, 4:28am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-do-mosquitoes-love-my-elbows/794959/8 "2017-08-29T04:28:55Z")
> [@elbows](#): > > Because elbows are everything! They’re sweet and special and wonderful. Y’know, in my experience! > > 😃 Heh, I only clicked on this thread to see if you were in it. 😃 ---
**Author:** ![Paintcharge](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/paintcharge/32/7946_2.png) [@Paintcharge](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Paintcharge)\ **Post date:** [August 29, 2017, 2:39pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-do-mosquitoes-love-my-elbows/794959/9 "2017-08-29T14:39:00Z")
I don’t know, but for me it’s the ankles. ---
**Author:** ![TruCelt](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/trucelt/32/523_2.png) [@TruCelt](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/TruCelt)\ **Post date:** [August 30, 2017, 4:18am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-do-mosquitoes-love-my-elbows/794959/10 "2017-08-30T04:18:50Z")
See, ankles make sense to me. If you are wearing pants and shoes, ankles are the available skin surface for quite a distance in either direction. But even wearing a short-sleeved shirt, there is elbow, then forearm, then wrists, and hands, in my case all untouched. Does anyone else experience this? ---
**Author:** ![SamuelA](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/c77e96/32.png) [@SamuelA](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/SamuelA)\ **Post date:** [August 30, 2017, 5:00am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-do-mosquitoes-love-my-elbows/794959/11 "2017-08-30T05:00:15Z")
The mosquitoes can sense IR. It’s probably slightly warmer there. The mosquito’s extremely crude vision can possibly sense edges and points. Elbow is at a bend, glowing in IR, and you are emitting CO2. They seem to be sensitive to all of this stuff, to a point. ---
**Author:** ![snowthx](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/snowthx/32/10660_2.png) [@snowthx](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/snowthx)\ **Post date:** [August 30, 2017, 7:55pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-do-mosquitoes-love-my-elbows/794959/12 "2017-08-30T19:55:15Z")
Tangential question: Why do they buzz my ears at night? They have many other surfaces on which to land that will not wake me up and lead to their destruction, but they seem to have a death wish. My thought, as for elbows, is the heat and thin-ness of the skin - blood supply being very near the surface.