Do mosquitoes love you or loathe you? Scientists think they know why

Are you a mosquito magnet? US researchers say they've figured out why mosquitoes flock to certain people while avoiding others.

US researchers have found a scientific basis for some people being drawcards for mosquitoes. Source: Moment RF / Joao Paulo Burini/Getty Images

Key Points

• US researchers believe they've figured out why some people are magnets for mosquito bites.
• Mosquitoes being more attracted to some people than others is an observed phenomenon but is poorly understood.

US researchers believe they've figured out why some people are magnets for mosquito bites, while others are ignored by the blood-sucking insects.

Mosquitoes being more attracted to some people than others is an observed phenomenon but one that is poorly understood, according to research to be published in the scientific journal Cell notes.

Researchers from The Rockefeller University, a New York-based postgraduate research institution, identified carboxylic acids on the skin as an attractant that could lure mosquitoes.

Humans produce carboxylic acids through sebum, which helps to keep our skin moisturised and protected from harm from things like UV radiation, bacteria, and fungi.

The research found people with significantly higher levels of carboxylic acids were more attractive to mosquitoes.

Even mutant mosquitoes without the receptors to smell the acids were still more attracted to those with higher acid levels on their skin.

"This suggests that mosquitoes with significant olfactory deficits are still able to tell the difference between individual people," the research notes.

Mosquito 'attraction score'

Attractiveness can vary wildly.

The researchers determined an "attraction score" based on how mosquitoes flocked to their subjects, finding the most attractive person for the mosquitoes scored four times higher than the second most.

Compared to the least attractive, their score was 100 times higher.

Researchers have developed an 'attraction score' to measure why mosquitoes are drawn to some people more than others. Source: AAP

The researchers believe their findings provide more scientific reasoning for the phenomenon of mosquito attraction than existing theories based on blood type, or the consumption of B vitamins or garlic as a home repellent.

However, uncertainties remain.

The specific chemical mechanism that differentiates the attractiveness of people to mosquitoes is still unclear, the research notes, while the consistency of skin odour over time is also unknown, particularly "the markedly less intense skin odour that emanates from body sites commonly bitten by mosquitoes".

The research also didn't answer why some people produce higher levels of carboxylic acids than others.

The research could inform the development of more effective insect repellents.