Okay so I read an article recently which was published in iScience which really made me pay attention as I am one of unlucky ones who is actually like a walking buffet to mosquitos.
In this article they conducted an experiment with 4 different blood types of volunteer, which is often sighted as a deciding factor in how delicious you seem to out miniature winged vampire friend, and then they applied different brands of soap to each of their skin.
The volunteers then wore a garment of clothing for a number of hours and then the items were placed into different tanks which contained Aedes aegypti mosquitos (the species of mosquito responsible for the spread of Dengue fever, Yellow fever and Zika virus).
The soap brands that were used in the experiment were Dial, Dove, Simple truth and Native.
Now its no surprise that different pheromones given off by the skin will encourage certain insects to bite however Entomologist Roberto M. Pereira Ph.D was quoted by saying “Soap can affect your mosquito magnet status by either masking attractants that naturally occur on human skin or adding scents that are either repellent or attractive to mosquitos”.
Floral scents often used in soaps and body washes will inadvertently mimic the natural plant odours often favoured by mosquitos. In the interview Pereira then went on to explain “because we use flower-like scents on our bodies, the mosquitos might be initially attracted to that’.
Get on with it Dan I hear you cry, “I’m just about to do the Tesco online shop and I need to know what items to take out of the basket”
The findings of the results were clear, and although the experiment was only a small one there were actually 2 brands which promoted mosquito attraction to the garments these were Simple Truth and Dove soaps.
Now just to be clear, the mosquitos would not be attracted to the soaps if they were left outside however they would be attracted to how the soaps change the pheromones on your skin. If you are one of the unlucky ones and a seem to be followed around the garden by mossies all summer long it might be worth changing your soaps and body washes you use and see if that gives you some relief.
How else can you reduce how attractive your garden is to mosquitos this summer?
Mosquitos breed in slow moving or stagnant, shallow water so keep an eye on your water butts and an any other water sources, big puddles in tarpaulin or seldom used kid’s toys etc which might be holding a small amount of water and empty it quick!
A simple trick I use at home in the water butts is to pour in a thin layer of vegetable oil to the water which will form a film on the top and stop the mosquito larvae from being able to respire through the film and this will kill them off while still allowing use of the water.
Also If you are particularly worried you can put insect screens up on the windows and doors at home to stop them getting inside we can help with this so contact us if you would like a quote or advice, however the chains which can be quite effective for flies are useless against mosquitos so don’t waste your money.
I hope you found this as interesting as I did, ill be changing out the soaps we use at home and see if that stops me looking like a pre-pubescent teen in my forties covered in red spot like bites!
DJ
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