New Delhi:
Ever wondered why some people look like they are always walking around with some mosquito repellent cream while you on the other hand feels like you just had a blood facial? Well, as it turns out the blood-sucking, disease spreading mosquitoes are also very picky suckers having their own personal favourite. According to studies, mosquitoes can smell blood type and find some people more delicious based on their blood group or the colour of your clothes (note why mosquitoes flock more when you wear black or something on the darker side).
Studies have found out that of the many blood types, Blood O are twice as likely to be bitten than people having different blood group such as AB, A or B. In a study conducted in a controlled environment, scientists found out that mosquitoes love Type O blood twice as much as they love Type A blood while type B is just average on the taste spectrum of the mosquitoes.
So, how does a mosquito identify the blood type of a person? The answer behind mosquitoes finding blood O group more delicious is because 85% of people secret a chemical through their skin that provides information on their blood type. The mosquitoes look for this particular chemical signal and approach their targets. For the remaining 15% who do not secrete the chemical signal, mosquitoes are not much interested in them, regardless of their blood type.
Another factor that drives mosquitoes to target some people more is by smelling the amount of carbon dioxide that a person exhale. Mosquitoes have an organ known as the ‘maxillary palp’, an organ they use to detect the amount of CO2 released by a person. With their ability to detect CO2from as far as 164 feet, people who exhale more CO2, primarily large people, are bitten more by mosquitoes. In addition to carbon dioxide, mosquitoes are also attracted to people by the smell of their sweat such as having an active lifestyle which can attract a whole lot of mosquitoes.
