Why Do Mosquitoes Always Bite YOU?

Why do mosquitoes bite you more than your friends? Same terrace, same drinks, same evening, and you wake up with seven bites while they have none. Your aunt blames sweet blood. The internet blames type O. Scientists have spent years testing who mosquitoes go for, and why. A lab in New York switched off the gene a mosquito uses to sense your breath, then had volunteers wear nylon sleeves for hours and let the mosquitoes choose. In Zambia, a team built a cage bigger than a tennis court. In Britain, it was twins. Dutch scientists looked at the bacteria on men's feet. Teams in Japan and Iran checked blood types, and in West Africa men drank a litre of local beer before the mosquitoes were let in. So what does a mosquito notice about you first, and can you ever change it? 0:00 Seven bites, zero for them 0:30 It feels personal 1:08 A whine at 3 a.m. 2:46 Eight sweaty sleeves 4:32 Dad's itchy ankle 6:09 Sweet blood and a cold beer 7:54 Next summer, new skin? 9:22 Back on the terrace Every study behind this video is listed below. 📚 RESEARCH & SOURCES: ▸ Breath: "Multimodal integration of carbon dioxide and other sensory cues drives mosquito attraction to humans" by McMeniman, Corfas et al. (2014, Cell); abstract only: mosquitoes without the sensor for the gas in your breath, still finding people in a big cage. ▸ Nylon sleeves: "Differential mosquito attraction to humans is associated with skin-derived carboxylic acid levels" by De Obaldia, Morita et al. (2022, Cell): eight people pitted two at a time, Subject 33, more skin acids on the favourites, and retests months later, four people over three years. ▸ Sleepers in Zambia: "Human scent guides mosquito thermotaxis and host selection under naturalistic conditions" by Giraldo, Rankin-Turner et al. (2023, Current Biology): a cage bigger than a tennis court, warm pads with no breath and no body smell, and more acids on the favourites' skin. ▸ Twins: "Heritability of attractiveness to mosquitoes" by Fernández-Grandon, Gezan et al. (2015, PLoS ONE): hand odour of identical and non-identical twin sisters, and about 60 percent of the difference linked to genes. ▸ Feet: "Composition of human skin microbiota affects attractiveness to malaria mosquitoes" by Verhulst, Qiu et al. (2011, PLoS ONE): more bacteria on the feet, but fewer kinds, in the men who drew the most mosquitoes. ▸ Blood type, Japan: "Landing preference of Aedes albopictus on human skin among ABO blood groups, secretors or nonsecretors, and ABH antigens" by Shirai, Funada et al. (2004, Journal of Medical Entomology); abstract only: most landings on type O, clear only against type A. ▸ Blood type, Iran: "Preferential feeding success of laboratory reared Anopheles stephensi mosquitoes according to ABO blood group status" by Anjomruz, Oshaghi et al. (2014, Acta Tropica); abstract only: type O last for feeding. ▸ Beer: "Beer consumption increases human attractiveness to malaria mosquitoes" by Lefèvre, Gouagna et al. (2010, PLoS ONE): one litre of sorghum beer or water, and the share of mosquitoes heading for the drinker going from a coin toss to about two in three. ▸ Pregnancy: "Effect of pregnancy on exposure to malaria mosquitoes" by Lindsay, Ansell et al. (2000, The Lancet); abstract only: twice as many malaria mosquitoes in The Gambia. Their breath and warmth as reported in "Mosquitoes prefer pregnant women" by Dobson (2000, BMJ). ▸ Vitamin B: "Testing vitamin B as a home remedy against mosquitoes" by Ives, Paskewitz (2005, Journal of the American Mosquito Control Association); abstract only: no effect. ▸ Survey: "Tick and mosquito statistics" by Modern Pest Services (2026); a company survey, method not stated: almost half of Americans feel mosquitoes go for them more. ———————————————————— PEOPLE, PLACES & ANIMALS MENTIONED IN THIS VIDEO: ▸ Yellow fever mosquito (Aedes aegypti): the dengue mosquito of the New York lab and the twins. ▸ Malaria mosquito (Anopheles gambiae): tested in Zambia, on feet, after beer and near pregnant women. ▸ Asian tiger mosquito (Aedes albopictus): counted landing on people of each blood type in Japan. ▸ Anopheles stephensi: an Asian malaria mosquito, tested on blood types in Iran and on vitamin B. ▸ Subject 33: the volunteer in New York whose sleeve the mosquitoes kept choosing. ▸ Zambia: the cage bigger than a tennis court, with sleepers in tents. ▸ West Africa (Burkina Faso): where men drank the litre of beer. ▸ The Gambia: where pregnant women were tested. ———————————————————— 🎨 Animation by Fulcrum ———————————————————— #mosquitoes #mosquitobites #insects