Why Some People Are Mosquito Magnets

[runandtelldat]

Some folks seem to be magnets for mosquitoes, while others rarely get bitten. What makes the little buggers single you out and not the guy or gal you're standing next to at the Memorial Day backyard barbecue?

The two most important reasons a mosquito is attracted to you have to do with sight and smell, says Jonathan Day, a professor of medical

Comments

[chimbleysweep]

I'm one of those people who don't react to mosquito bites. I don't even get red. I never, ever know they're biting me unless I catch them in the act~

(And I only know this because I used to let them feed off of me when I was young, and when they got really fat I'd smash them on my skin just to see the blood. What a hobby.)

(I'm going to use a different icon for this comment.)

[runandtelldat]

lol Ewww

I hate going outside in the evening. They love me, but the feeling isn't mutual. My bites welt up big and red, and they itch like hell.

[mswyrr]

O.O

This and the comment above is why I never want to leave Southern California.

BLOOD SUCKING THINGS ATTACHED TO YOU. RED WELTS. WTF.

[blissery]

Thanks for this.

[runandtelldat]

You're welcome. :)

[jadehunter]

The more times you get bitten by a particular species of mosquito, the less most people react to that species over time. The bad news? There's more than 3,000 species worldwide.

Yup. My body reacts a bit to mosquito bites I get around here with just a small, itchy spot and a tiny bump that lasts a few days. But that time I went to Korea for the summer (for the first time in 20 years)? I got bitten four times by a tiny mosquito and all of the bites swelled up like crazy, up to about the diameter and hardness of a baseball. It took weeks for the swelling to die down.

Super extreme red-alert immune response to an unfamiliar brand of mosquito. My body, it's on top of things.

[lone_concertina]

Same. If I don't itch a mosquito bite I get in central Texas, I'm cool and they're gone in an hour. I went to Charleston last month thought and got quarter-sized welts all over my body from the little shitheads flying around there.

[squid_ink]

I've heard you build up a resistance to bites over time. I keep bees and used to really swell up when I got an occasional bite. Now, it barely affects me.

of course I try not to get bit, poor ladies die defending the hive

makes me sad

[dearmisterecho]

Good to know, I'll make sure to barely breathe when I'm outside this summer -_-; cause seriously, mosquitoes love me. Georgia, North Carolina, Japan...doesn't matter where I am, they attack my legs and I am left scratching in misery all damn summer.