It has inevitably happened to you, when summer arrives, to find yourself outdoors with friends and that some attract on them all mosquitoes corner. No luck, it’s always on the same people that it falls. And everyone goes with their own little explanation. Too sweet blood, excessive sweating etc. If some of these explanations find a scientific explanation, Jeffrey A. Riffel, professor of biology at the University of Washington, found a new one which may well surprise you.
Color is said to affect mosquitoes
While the role of breathing, of sweat and from temperature have already been scientifically proven in the attraction of mosquito, here is a fourth factor that was not necessarily expected. To conduct his experiment, Jeffrey A. Riffel was interested in Aedes aegypti, a species of mosquito that carries dengue fever, Zika, chikungunya and yellow fever. He thus followed the flight path of a million female mosquitoes, the only ones to sting to feed their eggs, in a controlled environment.
Black, red and orange attract mosquitoes more
Professor Riffel and his team then observed the behaviour of the mosquitoes by sending them a jet of CO2 which was intended to make them go and choose one of the colors at their disposal. This highlighted that mosquitoes are more interested in red, black and orange. And that they, on the contrary, tend to avoid white, purple and green. Which allowed the professor to hold the following conclusion :
“The color red is not only present on your clothes, it is also present on the skin. Skin color does not matter, we all emit a strong red signature. Filtering these attractive colors on our skin or avoiding wearing clothes of these colors might be another way to prevent mosquito bites”
