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Youth Are Awesome, commonly referred to as YAA, is a blog written by youth for youth. YAA provides the youth of Calgary a place to amplify their voices and perspectives on what is happening around them. Youth Are Awesome is a program of Youth Central.

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HomeUncategorizedThe Science of Attracting Mosquitoes

The Science of Attracting Mosquitoes

 

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Have you ever wondered why mosquitoes are sometimes more attracted to some individuals more than others? The common belief behind why mosquitoes like certain people more is that some blood types are more attractive to mosquitoes, however, this theory is actually false. Mosquitoes are, in actuality, allured by a person’s body heat, sweat production  and emitted carbon dioxide. Due to how certain people have varying amounts of sweat excreted, mosquitoes can single out their more favourable targets. However, the common misconception pertaining to blood type and how certain types allure more mosquitoes is not completely unsupported. Because some blood types give the characteristic of having more sweat excreted, mosquitoes seem to be more attracted to certain blood types but what they are attracted to is not blood type but the sweat. Mosquitoes are also shown to be more allured to females more than males and younger children.

So how do we prevent mosquitoes from biting us? Using this information, we can find common solutions around the house that help decrease body heat. This includes water melon skin, mandarin skin and liquids specifically for decreasing body temperatures (these can commonly be found in Chinese markets). Compared to mosquito repellants, orange peels are actually more effective when applied through rubbing the inner peel abrasively onto your skin. The same applies to watermelon skin when all the red insides are cleared off. To soothe mosquito bites, you can also utilize watermelon skin, toothpaste and tea bags soaked in hot water and then cooled off (I find this personally to work, but that’s my preference). There are also several ways to get rid of mosquitoes around your house instead of using sticky and poisonous solutions bought from stores. One thing you can do is boil apple cider and keep it warm to attract all kind of bugs (not just mosquitoes). The insects will be allured to the sweet scent and mosquitoes will be fooled by the carbon dioxide (from the bubbles/gas inside of the apple cider) and the heat. After dipping into the solution, they will get wet and no longer have the ability to fly.
I hope my tips will assist you in your battle against mosquito-inflicted discomfort, whether it’s coping with a bite or repelling them.

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Jasmine
Jasminehttps://www.youthareawesome.com/author/jasmine
Who am I? It's quite a difficult question to answer in a box, but here it is: all of my summary skills packed into 100 some words. I am a badminton playing otaku who enjoys time avidly reading and sketching. As for taste, I love to read George Orwell novels and eat green tea flavoured everything (yup, probably even green tea ketchup if you were wondering). I OBVIOUSLY hate writing (dripping with the strongest sarcasm there is) and I am impotent when it comes to chocolate.
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