Smelly chemicals confuse mosquitoes

[Archean]

CO2 in exhaled air is the sensory cue for female blood-sucking mosquitoes, this causes host-seeking flight and navigation towards the target. Mosquitoes can also detect minute changes in the concentration of the gas and track it back to humans breath. Link

At last I know why I attract so many mosquitoes

Scientists at the University of California, Riverside, tested smelly chemicals on three species of mosquito: Anopheles gambiae, which spreads malaria; Culex quinquefasciatus, which spreads filariasis and West Nile virus; and Aedes aegypti which spreads dengue and yellow fever.



Between them these insects are thought to spread disease to half a billion people each year and cause millions of deaths.

The researchers identified three groups of chemicals, which disrupt a mosquito's carbon dioxide receptors.

 

[dividebyzero]

Smelly chemicals confuse more than just mosquitoes...

 

[Benny26]

Shall i load up on the beans before i trek round Africa then?

 

[Archean]

Not sure 'that kind' of smell would repel the mosquitoes though. However, it should get rid of all the 'unwanted' guests .... well you know the rest.