It’s a fact.
I am bug bait.
No matter what I do it seems that I attract all of the biting bugs.
Just when I think I am safe …they bite.
Currently I have bites on my ankles and arms. I don’t know how it happens. It just does.
Bugs appear out of nowhere and feast on me.
Chris can be sitting right next to me and yet he remains unbitten.
I have an arsenal of sprays, candles, plants and even little smokey sticks to light and yet they still somehow manage to find their way to my flesh.
I don’t get it.
My brother, Chris, was visiting last week and he apparently has the same issue. His wife, Shari, is similar to my Chris. She remains unmarked by the beasts that leave their marks on us.
I can’t figure it out. So I did a little searching and came up with some facts from TreeHugger.com. An article on their website offers several reasons why mosquitos in particular are attracted to some and not others.
- Did you know that mosquitos are highly visual? That means they can target their victims. They prefer dark colors like black, dark blue and red. Note to self: wear light colored clothing.
- Apparently mosquitos prefer certain blood types with type O being the favored of female mosquitos who rely on the protein in blood to help with egg production. However I suspect I fall into the category of 85% of folks who are “secreters” . We send out secretions that are a signal of our blood type to the mosquitos so regardless they zero in on us even if we aren’t O blood types. Just call me secreter I guess. Ugh.
- Mosquitos can detect gas. No….not THAT kind of gas. Carbon dioxide. When we exhale we are VERY attractive to the pests. According to TreeHugger.com they can detect it up to 160 feet away.
- Mosquitos also can smell things like lactic acid, urea and ammonia which are present in our sweat. They love it. When we sweat they zero in so maybe the best advice to avoid bites is to not sweat?
- Types of bacteria that is found on the skin can attract mosquitos as well. In my case I guess my ankles are ripe with bacteria. That really grosses me out but I guess I need to practice even better hygiene to avoid the ankle biters.
- In one study it was found that mosquitos were more attracted to pregnant women. While that is not the case in my life (whew) there was also a link to warmth of the body. With all of the lovely hot flashes that I experience I suspect this might be yet another nail in my coffin when it comes to mosquito bites.
- Finally another attractor that does not apply to me is the consumption of beer. Apparently the insects like to sample blood from beer drinking folks. There is no evidence that was cited that really explained this phenomenon but still it exists. (Read the complete article here.)
So there you have seven possible reasons . Do you believe these? Do they make sense to you?
All I know is that none of the methods of preventing insect bites has helped me at all this summer. I am sure some of my readers have no fail bug bite remedies. I would love to hear all about them in the comment section. Let me know if you have any time proven tried and true remedies. I am ready to try just about anything. Just about.
