Recent research has found that smelly armpits may turn some people right into a mosquito magnet.
This is outwardly the explanation that some persons are so suffering from the annoying critters — while others get off scot-free, in keeping with scientists.
The pesky insects are drawn to body odor, also often known as BO — and mosquitoes can find us from 350 feet away once they get a whiff, in keeping with SWNS, the British news service.
Mosquitoes may also carry deadly diseases.
The brand new findings are based on the African malaria mosquito Anopheles gambiae, which was let out in an ice rink-sized outdoor testing arena in Zambia.
Said the study’s lead writer, Dr. Diego Giraldo, a neuroscientist, “That is the biggest system to evaluate olfactory preference for any mosquito on the planet. And it’s a really busy sensory environment for the mosquitoes,” as SWNS reported.
The team from Johns Hopkins University in Baltimore, Maryland, released 200 hungry mosquitoes each night and used infrared motion cameras to look at how often they landed on evenly spaced pads heated to 35ºC — mimicking human skin, the report said.
It was sign they were able to bite.
Body odor was apparently a more attractive bait than CO2 — a known cue for mosquitoes.
But further tests showed that the swarm of 200 individuals were also choosy. The aromas of six volunteers sleeping in surrounding single-person tents were piped onto the pads over six consecutive nights.
It enabled the researchers to record the mosquitoes’ preferences and collect nightly air samples from the tents to match airborne components of body odor.
Senior writer Dr. Conor McMeniman, a vector biologist, said, “These mosquitoes typically hunt humans within the hours before and after midnight,” as SWNS also reported.
“They follow scent trails and convective currents emanating from humans, and typically they may enter homes and bite between around 10 p.m. and a pair of a.m.”
He added, “We wanted to evaluate mosquito olfactory preferences throughout the peak period of activity once they are out and about and energetic — and likewise assess the odor from sleeping humans during that very same time window.”
Night after night, some people were more attractive to mosquitoes than others, the study found.
One volunteer, who had a strikingly different odor, consistently attracted only a few mosquitoes, the study noted.
The study also identified 40 chemicals that every one of the humans emitted — though at different rates.
Said lead co-author Dr. Stephanie Rankin-Turner, an analytical chemist, “It might be a ratio-specific mix they’re following … We don’t really know yet exactly what aspect of skin secretions, microbial metabolites or breath emissions are really driving this, but we hope we’ll have the opportunity to figure that out in the approaching years.”
Individuals who were more attractive to mosquitoes consistently emitted more carboxylic acids produced by skin microbes, the study said.
In contrast, the one who was least attractive to the mosquitoes gave off fewer acids but triple the quantity of eucalyptol, a plant compound.
It’s present in oils, herbs and spice — and elevated levels could also be related to weight loss program.
The researchers were surprised by how effectively the mosquitoes could locate and choose from potential human meals inside the huge arena, SWNS noted.
Dr Rankin-Turner added, “While you see something moved from a tiny laboratory space where the odors are right there, and the mosquitoes are still finding them on this big open space out in a field in Zambia, it really drives home just how powerful these mosquitoes are as host seekers.”
The study was published within the journal Current Biology.
It could lead on to the event of more practical repellents and traps, noted SWNS.
