“Keep your friends close, and your enemies closer” - Old proverb

“Know Thy enemy”, the saying goes. To beat mosquitoes without harsh, wasteful chemicals, a little knowledge of the little beasts goes a long way. Here’s a few funky mosquito facts to help keep you bite free this summer from Mosquito.org.

• Blondes tend to be more attractive to mosquitoes than brunettes (still need to confirm: is this true for fake blondes?)
• Most adult female mosquitoes live 2-3 weeks, during which time they can feed 4 or 5 times, laying eggs after each meal. Some species that over winter in garages, culverts and attics can live as long as 6 months.
• Bigger people are often more attractive to mosquitoes because they are larger targets and they produce more mosquito attractants, namely CO2 and lactic acid.

Photo: Abhishek727

• In order to obtain energy, both male and female mosquitoes feed upon plant nectars – much in the same manner as honeybees.
• Mosquitoes find hosts by sight (they observe movement); by detecting infra-red radiation emitted by warm bodies; and by chemical signals (mosquitoes are attracted to carbon dioxide and lactic acid, among other chemicals) at distances of 25 to 35 meters.
• Women are usually more attractive to mosquitoes than men because of the difference in hormones produced by the sexes.
• Smaller species of mosquitoes found around houses commonly weigh about 2.5 milligrams. The largest species weigh in at a whopping 10 milligrams (I’d hate to see that one!)
• At least 62 species of mosquitoes have been found infected with the West Nile virus in the United States. Not all of these, however, are capable of maintaining the virus in such a manner as to permit them to transmit it among organisms.

• The progeny produced by one female, based upon egg-laying of 450 eggs per an average of 3 batches per lifetime will reach 49,843,353,164 by the 4th generation (8-16 weeks) based upon a 70% survival. (WHOA!)
• According to some scientists, mosquitoes are known from as far back as the Triassic Period – 400 million years ago. They are known from North America from the Cretaceous – 100 million years ago.
• People drinking beer have been shown to be more attractive to mosquitoes.
• Limburger cheese has also been found to be attractive. Scientists have theorized that this may explain the attraction some mosquitoes find for human feet.
• Ingestion of garlic, vitamin B12 and other systemic remedies has been proven in controlled laboratory studies to have no impact on mosquito biting. (darn!)
• Eating bananas does not attract mosquitoes as the myth suggests, but wearing perfumes does.

A little knowledge goes a long way, especially with an adversary this small and persistant!

Learn more about natural mosquito prevention and ways to repel these pesky creatures.

About Lynn
Lynn is the founder of myEARTH360.com and the I Count for myEARTH360 blog. She also contributes to a number of online publications. You can follow her on twitter and find her on facebook. She lives in the Chicago surburbs with her husband, son and two feisty cats.