Mosquito Why do some people get less mosquito bites?

Some people actually attract mosquitoes
Thanks to the summery temperatures of the last days, a lot of time could finally be spent outside in the garden or on the balcony. The heat also ensures that mosquitoes make life difficult for us. But not everyone is equally affected here. Because some people are stung more often. Why is that? And what actually helps against mosquitoes? In conversation with the news agency "dpa" gives an expert valuable information and tips on the subject.

The blood is not the deciding factor
Blue skies, sunshine and hot temperatures: almost everyone prefers to go outside to the garden or to cool off at the bathing lake. Annoying is only that it is often teeming with mosquitoes, because the small pests are becoming more active with rising temperatures. But the animals are not a problem for everyone. Rather, some people attract mosquitoes while others are not stung. "Mosquitoes sting especially those who have sweet blood," it is often said. But is that true?

Mosquito bites depend on the individual body odor. (Image: nechaevkon / fotolia.com)

Showering only helps for a short time
In fact, some people seem to be more attractive to mosquitoes than others. But the animals are not attracted by the "sweet blood", but by the body odor, explains Martin Geier, a biologist from Regensburg. Everybody smells different and mosquitoes can differentiate very finely here. The mixture of substances such as lactic acid, ammonia and fatty acids decides whether someone is stung or not, according to the biologist from Regensburg, who has been researching the behavior of mosquitoes for many. "You can not do much about that," says Geier. Because even showers can cover the individual body odor only briefly and thus do not keep animals long.

According to Geier, mosquitoes are only picky among groups of people. Anyone who never gets a sting in the company of others is therefore far from being fundamentally safe from the attackers. Instead, it behaves similar to people who are hungry: "If they can choose from the buffet food, they take what tastes." If only dry bread on offer, you would in this case access.

Mosquitoes like warm skin
Nevertheless, there are opportunities for vulnerable people to protect themselves from the annoying insects. As mosquitoes prefer warm skin according to vultures, one should, for example, take a shower directly after outdoor sports activities or seek cooling in a lake. To prevent mosquitoes from entering the house, insect screens on windows and doors are a sensible investment. Even mosquito nets over the bed can provide good protection against stings at night.

Classical chemical mosquito sprays, ointments or sticks can also help, but there are also a number of natural home remedies for mosquitoes. These include, for example, essential oils such as e.g. Citronella, cinnamon, rosemary, eucalyptus, frankincense or laurel. The oil is best evaporated in the evening before going to bed for an hour in the well-ventilated bedroom in the aroma lamp, for a room of about twenty square meters four drops are completely sufficient. For safety reasons, however, the lamp must not burn while sleeping.

Tomatoes as a natural mosquito repellent
Even a tomato plant on the windowsill has proven itself as a natural "anti-mosquito", because their leaves emanate a very unpleasant odor for the insects. Basil, chives and lemon balm can also help keep the pests away. According to the pharmacist Hans-Joachim Niermann, homeopathic remedies, such as, for example, are also very suitable. Cedar oil. To protect children from stings, an ointment from nettle extract is recommended, the expert told the "dpa".

Vitamin pills change the skin odor
Some people would also take vitamin B1 pills for the prevention of mosquito bites. This acts according to Niermann in principle like a kind of "flavor enhancer" for the sweat, which then smells very repulsive for the mosquitoes. The fellow human beings would not notice the change fortunately. The substance is also contained in cereals - but in such small quantities that a change in diet would have no effect. The expert himself is skeptical about the vitamin pills: "It's just the question of whether one wants to burden the body with it. Since I would rather take something natural on the skin. "(No)