The Colors of Clothing That Most Attract Mosquitoes, According to a University of Washington Study

The arrival of summer brings with it many good things, for example: well-deserved vacation after a long period of work or studyan ideal time for a beach or mountain holiday and deep-rooted traditions, especially in more countryside, access to fresh air. But along with this, this summer season also comes a well-known enemy: mosquitoes.

Because there are a lot of people who seem to have a special relationship with them. They come to them repeatedly during the night“I will have sweet blood” is one of the most frequently repeated comments trying to explain this. obsession with certain people. Research published in the journal Nature it turned out that another reason could be clothing colors.

Thus, they will be attracted to certain colors and ignore others. If confirmed, can be used to develop new traps or repellents against them.

whose presence is irritating and leaves bite marks on our skin. Not only that, but they can also transmit diseases such as malaria, dengue or zika.

Attracted by carbon dioxide

A preliminary understanding of why mosquitoes they are attracted to some color, smell or other similar characteristics can be used to develop new protection measures in the future. Previous research has shown that mosquitoes sense attraction to the smell of carbon dioxide from our breath. And in this study, researchers from the University of Washington examined how does this smell prepare them to search for food?.

To do this, they developed their experiments with female mosquitoes of the species Aedes aegyptiby monitoring their responses to visual and olfactory cues. The test was to see how they reacted to different colors, with or without CO2 spray. And in doing so they discovered that They flew to the spot if it was red, orange, black, or blue if they smelled carbon dioxide for the first time.

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Without this gas, insects generally They ignored the dots, regardless of their color.Of course, they ignored the points. green, blue, white or purple, even though they were “ready” to feed after the CO2 spray. “Mosquitoes seem to use odors to help them recognize what is nearby, such as a bite victim” said Jeffrey Riffell, lead author of the study.

The biologist explained that when you smell certain compounds such as CO2, your eyes are stimulated “to look for specific colors and other visual patternsrelated to the potential host and target them.”

Preference for red and orange colors.

Regarding these two tones, experts assure that It is related to human skin.– Regardless of its hue and pigmentation, it emits a strong red-orange signal to mosquitoes. In these tests, the researchers also used maps of different colors of human skinor with your bare hand. In doing so, they found that insects would fly towards them when they first smelled CO2. However, they ignored this if there was a green glove on the hand.

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At the same time, they conducted the same experiments with genetically modified mosquitoes. If the genes responsible for smell CO2 or see long wavelength colors, insects did not react to the presented stimuli, indicating that both senses are needed to “detect” the food. The study also suggests that there is other animals that may also have color preferences during feeding.