Beer drinkers beware - mosquitoes find you irresistible
People who drink beer could be making themselves more appealing to mosquitoes.
Unlike vampires, who are typically driven by a desperate need for food, mosquitoes are a little more picky about whose blood they suck.
A new study by Dutch scientists shows that the blood-sucking insects prefer the blood of beer drinkers.
According to Phys.org, researchers conducted a study during a popular music festival in the Netherlands.
The team, which was spearheaded by Felix Hol of Radboud University Nijmegen, set up a pop-up lab at Lowlands armed with "thousands of female Anopheles mosquitoes".
Researchers studied around 500 festivalgoers to investigate "mosquito biting preferences amidst noise and intoxication".
Volunteers filled out a questionnaire about hygiene, diet, and behaviour at the three-day festival before offering their arms to a bunch of hungry mosquitoes.
Thankfully, the mosquitoes were not able to feast on them.
"Mosquito attraction was measured using a custom-designed setup: a transparent cage with perforations where female Anopheles mosquitoes were offered a choice between a sugar-feeder and the participant's arm. Mosquitoes could only smell, not bite, the participant’s arm," the study states.
READ: The 25 countries that drink the most beer in the world
Researchers shared their findings on the preprint site bioRxiv. "Mosquitoes showed a clear fondness for those who drank beer over those who abstained from the liquid gold."
Beer drinkers were 1.35 times more irresistible. Mosquitoes also flocked to those who got lucky the night before.
"Attraction was also contagious: participants that successfully lured a fellow human into their tent the previous night also proved more enticing to mosquitoes."
The study showed that hygiene was also a deciding factor.
"Skipping the morning showering routine and using sunscreen reduced mosquito attraction."
Using our custom designed experimental set-up, we found that mosquitoes are drawn to those who avoid sunscreen, drink beer, and share their bed. They simply have a taste for the hedonists among us.
Beer drinker or not, you will likely encounter more than a few mosquitoes in the upcoming summer.
Most mosquitoes locate their hosts using receptors to detect carbon dioxide (CO2), which humans exhale when they breathe. They can also sense body heat and respond to chemicals contained in sweat.
Research shows mosquitoes also target pregnant women and people wearing certain colours.
So, yes, drinking beer could make you slightly more attractive to mosquitoes, but everyone is considered a snack in the summer, especially if you camp near a pond!
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