As mosquitoes and mosquito-borne illnesses like dengue fever spread across the world, researchers say that a key strategy to prevent these illnesses may be dissuading the insects from biting their victims in the first place. But while scientists have uncovered the ways that odor and heat help mosquitoes find humans, little is known about the role of taste once they've landed.
  • AbouBenAdhem@lemmy.worldEnglish
    6·
    19 days ago

    They also identify compounds in human sweat that increase biting behavior in mosquitoes as well as bitter compounds that suppress egg-laying and feeding behaviors…

    Is that how anti-malarials like quinine work?

  • The_v@lemmy.world
    6·
    19 days ago

    My wife must be extra tasty. I might get one bite for every 20 she gets. I also rarely react to any mosquito bite. Just a small bump if anything.

  • Crackhappy@lemmy.worldEnglish
    4·
    19 days ago

    I only get bitten in Montana. My sister is from Java and she lives there and doesn’t get bitten. When we went back to Indonesia a couple months ago she got eaten alive and I watched two mosquitoes bite me and die. So funny how our chemical makeups are so wildly different.