I heard years ago that mosquitoes will go for the higher body temperature. (Sorry, no cite.)
Don’t they locate victims by some kind of heat sensing?
Teacher, teacher!! NutMagnet cut in line! I swear I was here first!!
[/whiny kid mode]
Being a child on forty a day, I can confirm that this is not true. I am one of those that thinks they have never been bitten, but I’ve always thought that I just didn’t react to them. I saw a documentary a while back where they did an experiment with some real smelly French cheese that was supposed to have the exact same odour as cheesey feet and the mosquitos couldn’t get enough. Obviously the conclusion was that if you stink, you get bit, particularly round the ankles. At least that’s what I tell people.
Well, then, allow me to toss some contradictory anecdotal evidence your way.
The wife and I went hiking in the hills last weekend. She got one bite, I got more than ten.
Of course, she is Chinese and we were hiking in Massachusetts. I told her that the local mosquitos must not like Chinese food…
Barry
There are swamps in my hometown and our mosquitoes are famous, they are said to lift you off and take you to their nest as opposed to just biting you. Usually our visitors complained while I just wondered why they weren’t bothering me. We called it the “fresh meat” factor.
I went off-roading last weekend and although I am generally ignored by mosquitoes these ones obviously didn’t get the “Leave MG alone” memo. I came home full of blotches and I am in pain here, real pain, I’ve scratched my skin raw, I’m considering biting myself (that’s what I see dogs do). These mosquitoes I encountered last weekend must be a different species, I never got this reaction before and I haven’t had a change of diet or health lately. How do I get rid of the itch?!
HELP!
Garlic. It’s all about garlic. Keeps the buggers away for hours. You have to eat it, and lots of it. I usually do this on campouts and it’s been working like a charm for years.
BTW, without garlic, i’m like a mosquito smorgasboard
Also, some extra vitamin B seems to help.
*scratch scratch *
See this more recent thread for more info: http://boards.straightdope.com/sdmb/showthread.php?s=&threadid=212955. An Australian study showed that your attractiveness to mosquitoes is mostly genetic!
This is anecdotal, but I only get bitten by horseflies and midges when I’ve been sweating a lot, or I’m wet. I also read on a site somewhere that horseflies are attracted to shiny objects more, so maybe when you sweat or when you are wet, and you stand in the sun, reflecting a lot of rays, you become a walking buffet?
And nobody has experienced midges until you’ve been into the highlands of Scotland. Those things aren’t repelled by anything.