DailyDirt: Bite Me. No, Wait, Don't...

from the urls-we-dig-up dept

Mon, Jun 29th 2015 5:00pm — Michael Ho

There are thousands of species of mosquitoes. Killing them all might not be advisable, but controlling how they interact with us would be good -- so that we can prevent various mosquito-borne diseases. If you hate mosquito bites, check out a few of these links to learn more about your tiny tiny nemeses.

Mosquitoes seem to like some people more than others, but is that really true? Maybe. And there might be a genetic reason for it. A (small) study of twins showed that mosquitoes didn't 'smell' a difference between identical twins but could for non-identical twins. A genetic explanation of this result isn't exactly clear yet, but there could be one. [url]
Mosquitoes might bite (or suck the blood of) people based on the variety of bacteria living on their skin. This preference may correlate with HLA genes that also seem to be involved in body odor differences. [url]
What can you do to avoid mosquito bites (besides avoiding areas where mosquitoes live)? If you think you can eat garlic and ward them off like vampires, think again. Protective clothing and DEET seem to be the most effective things so far. There are some devices that disperse various chemical repellents that seem to work, too. Lasers, however, are probably not going to be practical for some time. [url]

After you've finished checking out those links, take a look at our Daily Deals for cool gadgets and other awesome stuff.

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Filed Under: deet, disease, dna, genetics, health, hla genes, mosquitoes, twins

4 Comments

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Anonymous Coward, 29 Jun 2015 @ 7:27pm

just get rid of the biting kinds?
do all mosquitoes bite?
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The Burning Map (profile), 30 Jun 2015 @ 6:42am

Re: just get rid of the biting kinds?
No. There are a few species that do NOT feed on blood. Of the species that do feed on blood, which is usually used only for egg production and not as an energy resource, it is only the females that take blood meals.
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1stworlder (profile), 30 Jun 2015 @ 12:21pm

Mosquitos wouldn't be so bad if we didn't have illegal aliens brining cases of Dengue, Chikungunya & Chagas across our southern border. Several cases came through last summer.
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HegemonicDistortion (profile), 30 Jun 2015 @ 8:26pm

Fans
For just sitting outside on the patio, one the best defenses is to run 1 or 2 large oscillating fans. They will disperse the exhaled carbon dioxide that attracts mosquitoes to begin with, and can physically repel them too, as they're very weak flyers.
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