Imagine being the only person in a group of people in a wilderness or somewhere, and yet insects and mosquitoes leave all your colleagues and gather around you to affect you with their bites, which leads you to wonder: Why me? And why does she leave everyone to attack me and bite me alone and not others?
If you're that person, don't be disheartened too much, as a recent scientific study recently published found that mosquitoes and insects are generally attracted to certain types of soap, due to the smell, which makes some humans vulnerable to more painful bites. The study also showed that these insects hate and disgust other types of soap, and stay away from people who wash with them.
According to the study, conducted by researchers from Virginia Tech's School of Agriculture and Life Sciences and partially funded by the U.S. Department of Agriculture and the U.S. National Institute of Food and Agriculture, you just need to change the type of soap you use to keep the insects away.
Professor Chloe Lahunder, a professor of biochemistry at Virginia Tech and co-author of the study, said: "Soap changes our body odors and determines how humans and other organisms smell us, not only because of the chemicals it contains, but because of the way soap reacts to the natural odors our bodies secrete." This is according to a press release published on the University of Virginia website.
Floral and plant scents are more attractive to insects
The study showed that floral scents tend to be more attractive to mosquitoes and insects, and the researchers noted that plant-derived scents also attract mosquitoes that feed on the nectar of plants and flowers, and are automatically attracted to them. So, if you're using a soap that contains these odors, expect it to be an ideal target for mosquitoes and insects.
Professor Clément Fenogger, assistant professor of chemistry and lead author of the study, said: "The person who suffers the most from mosquito and insect bites only has to change the type of soap, or choose a soap that does not contain the scents of flowers and plants to reduce the accumulation of insects around him and reduce their bites."
Beneficial bacteria on the skin that produce the characteristic human odor may attract mosquitoes (Shutterstock)
Mosquitoes hate coconut
The researchers found that soap and cosmetics containing the smell of coconut were mosquito repellents.
"This was very interesting to us, because we found other evidence to show that an excess of certain fatty acids, such as those found in coconut oil derivatives, acts as a repellent for mosquitoes and other insects," Finuger adds.
The researchers hope their findings will influence future studies to develop better types of pesticides to prevent bites." According to Fenogger, "the combination of natural body secretions and certain soaps or cosmetics is most important to combat mosquito and insect bites."
This leads us to talk about another scientific study that focused on the natural body odors and secretions and their role in attracting mosquitoes and insects.
Mosquito magnets
In a study published in the peer-reviewed journal Cell, Professor Leslie Fuchal, a professor at Rockefeller University and head of the University's Neurogenetics and Behavior Laboratory, sought to determine why some people attract mosquitoes more than others.
Over the course of 3 years, the researchers asked a group of 64 student volunteers to wear nylon socks on their arms for 6 hours a day for a few days. The researchers then built a "two-option olfactory scale" in a glass room where the scientists placed two types of socks, and then the study team released "yellow fever" mosquitoes into the room, and observed which type of socks attracted mosquitoes the most.
This test allowed the researchers to separate the students into two types: the first they called the "mosquito magnets," whose socks attracted a lot of mosquitoes, and the second they called "low attractors," students whose socks attracted far fewer mosquitoes. The scientists then examined the skin of the students who wore the first type of socks (mosquito magnets) and found 50 molecular compounds that were higher in the skin of these participants, compared to the other students.
Professor Leslie Faushal told CNN: "We didn't have preconceived ideas about what we were going to find, but there was one particularly special difference: the mosquito magnet team had significantly higher rates of carboxylic acid on their skin than the other team."
Carboxylic acids are found in sebum, a substance of an oily nature that tends to turn yellow, and is naturally secreted by the human body by the sebaceous glands, and is especially present near the surface of the skin, and is also the substance that helps keep our skin hydrated.
"Carboxylic acids are large molecules in sebum, and they themselves aren't smelly, but the beneficial bacteria on the skin chew these acids that produce the characteristic smell of humans" that attract mosquitoes, explains Fuchal.
Body temperature and the carbon dioxide we release when we breathe play an important role in attracting mosquitoes (Shutterstock)
Female mosquitoes prefer to use human blood to fuel egg production, which makes them look for humans to feed on their blood. "These small predators use a variety of mechanisms to identify the humans they target," explains Faushall.
Carboxylic acids are just one piece of the puzzle in explaining how annoying insects choose their targets: body temperature, the carbon dioxide we release when we breathe also play an important role in attracting mosquitoes, as well as the soaps and cosmetics we use.
"Scientists still don't know exactly why carboxylic acids seem to attract mosquitoes so strongly. But the next step may be to explore the effects of reducing carboxylic acids on the skin."
"Leather products may be able to reduce carboxylic acid levels in human skin, thereby reducing mosquito bites or some humans' greater attraction to insects than others," Fauchal says.