BLACKSBURG, Va. – If you ever feel like mosquitos are more attracted to you than your friends or family, you may be right.
Researchers at Virginia Tech are looking into how different scents on humans attract mosquitos.
The scent of soap or perfume a person uses can impact how many mosquitos are drawn to them, researchers say.
They also found that mosquitos are more attracted to fruity and flowery scents and less attracted to the smell of coconut.
But, that doesn’t mean it’s time to throw out the bug spray and lather up with coconut just yet.
“There is really that interaction between the chemicals that you produce and the chemicals in your soap that produce an effect on the mosquitoes,” said Virginia Tech Biochemistry Professor, Clement Vinauger.
Vinauger says he and his team are looking into getting more funding so they can expend their study to try other scents and use more people.