I know some people get bitten by mosquitoes more than others, and I’m one of the people who they seem to find particularly tasty. But I’ve noticed on nights when I’ve stayed outside and toughed out the initial onslaught, they eventually seem to leave me alone. And while camping with my friend and our families over the 4th of July weekend, we were up late and my friend also made the observation that the mosquitoes, which were previously very annoying, didn’t seem to be around anymore.
I’ve googled this but I haven’t found any explanation. I have read that given the opportunity they will bite all night, that they don’t have a certain time window after which they stop feeding. So I’m down to 3 theories:
They are still swarming and biting, but I just get used to it and don’t notice anymore (but I don’t seem to have more bites corresponding to staying out later).
Mosquitoes do have an evening feeding window that stops later at night- contrary to what I’ve read (I’m in Michigan, if that matters).
This one is I suspect most likely- mosquitoes find mammals by their carbon dioxide footprint- but if I’m staying in one place very long I eventually build up such a carbon dioxide cloud around me that the mosquitoes aren’t sure any more where to home in. I suspect if some kind of night vision camera that detected mosquito activity was filming me, it would show a swarm of confused mosquitoes in a radius all around me.
Any of those seem plausible, or is it something else?
I live in the forests of Montana, and have noticed the same thing. I believe it’s #2, and as the air gets cooler they become less active. The same reason why they don’t attack me in the morning. It seems that late afternoon and early evening is their prime feeding times where I live…
Around here it cools off at night and at some temperature the skeeters no longer bite. Or maybe they’re not hungry anymore, I never got bit so much as when I used to go fishing at dawn.