How Attractive Are You?
To Mosquitoes, That Is

For years people have known about animal attraction. Perfume and cologne are the primary "weapons of choice" many use to attract the opposite sex.

But we don't need to do anything to attract insects. We give off hundreds, maybe thousands, of natural scents that bugs, particularly mosquitoes, just love.

"So far, we have found more than 340 different chemical scents produced by human skin, and some of these attract mosquitoes," says ARS chemist Ulrich R. Bernier.

"Scientists have known for years that lactic acid—present on human skin—is a mosquito attractant. So far, this is true for only a handful of species, one of which is the yellowfever mosquito, Aedes aegypti. Finding what attracts mosquitoes will ultimately help us find ways to control them." Bernier is with the ARS Center for Medical, Agricultural, and Veterinary Entomology's Mosquito and Fly Research Unit in Gainesville, Florida.

http://www.ars.usda.gov/is/AR/archive/feb00/mosq0200.htm