Last night I was at a BBQ.  When dusk fell, the mosquitoes were out in force.     Four people immediately headed inside the house because they were getting eaten alive, one of whom was me.

I took a poll of the others inside.  They were all type O's!  Is there any evidence that mosquitoes have a preference for blood type?  

I've always wondered why, in a group of people, a few will be chewed alive by mosquitoes while others won't even get a bite.  I was always one of the ones chewed alive, and I thought it might be because of blood sugar.  I always had a sweet tooth, so I thought perhaps the mosquitoes could sense a higher blood sugar content somehow(?).  Last night, I used somebody's bug repellant that they had brought to the BBQ and I didn't get bitten, but I didn't hear anybody else complaining about mosquitoes, so maybe there weren't any.

When we are outside, the mosquitos leave my Type B husband alone and they annihilate me.

Once I stopped eating sugar, I stopped being bothered by bugs

Quoted from brinyskysail

Once I stopped eating sugar, I stopped being bothered by bugs

I knew it!

Quoted from brinyskysail

Once I stopped eating sugar, I stopped being bothered by bugs

That didn't work for me.  I haven't had sugar in years.  They still find me!!

I read that they like women more than men. Hormones?

Quoted from O in Virginia

I knew it!

I went on a mission trip to Haiti a few years ago - I didn't have anything sweet the whole time.  Everyone else drank juice at every meal and snacked on candy.  They all looked like they had chicken pox, they were so bitten up, but I had only about 2-3 bites the entire week.  I was the only person not attacked.

Kim, do you still eat fruit?  I mean ALL sugar.

Quoted from brinyskysail

I went on a mission trip to Haiti a few years ago - I didn't have anything sweet the whole time.  Everyone else drank juice at every meal and snacked on candy.  They all looked like they had chicken pox, they were so bitten up, but I had only about 2-3 bites the entire week.  I was the only person not attacked.

Kim, do you still eat fruit?  I mean ALL sugar.

I eat some, but not all the time. I have gone months through the summer without eating fruit because I get full eating all the veggies in season.   I think it is women they like.  Seems to me they never bother the guys.  

Quoted from Patty H

Last night I was at a BBQ.  When dusk fell, the mosquitoes were out in force.     Four people immediately headed inside the house because they were getting eaten alive, one of whom was me.

I took a poll of the others inside.  They were all type O's!  Is there any evidence that mosquitoes have a preference for blood type?  

http://scienceline.org/2007/09/ask-knight-mosquitoes/

A great explanation there...It seems they do prefer type O's, but I'm an O  and they won't bite me unless they've no one else to choose from... I guess they figured my blood wasn't that great...

Hah it says they bite secretors over non secretors...can't wait to get my results...

Quoted from 14428

Hah it says they bite secretors over non secretors...can't wait to get my results...

Maybe that's the answer for me - more points toward being a non secretor...

Mosquitoes still land on my arms, but since I have hairy arms and sensitive nerves, I feel them and reduce the population, I rarely get bitten...  

My wife will always get bitten when the mosquitoes are out...  She gets an infection at the bite site, so we usually don't go to nighttime outdoor events...

  If there's a mosquito within 20 miles he'll find me. Yet my husband who has the biggest sweet tooth will say "what mosquitos?"  He's also an O.  And our friends that we do all our camping with are opposite, in that he's like me.  We don't know what his blood type is, (he won't let us test him), but both his wife and I strongly feel he's an O and I think a Hunter.  She is an A and is like my husband when it comes to the mosquitos having no interest in her.

  So our big canoe trips are always in Sept. when the mosquitos are less.

Quoted from deblynn3

I read that they like women more than men. Hormones?

I guess I also should have mentioned that the group of four was equally divided by gender, two women and two men.  In fact one of the two men was bitten the worst of all of us, so there goes that theory.  

Quoted from 14428

http://scienceline.org/2007/09/ask-knight-mosquitoes/

A great explanation there...It seems they do prefer type O's, but I'm an O  and they won't bite me unless they've no one else to choose from... I guess they figured my blood wasn't that great...

Hah it says they bite secretors over non secretors...can't wait to get my results...

Fantastic article, Linda.  Thanks for hunting it down.  I am a non-secretor but they still seem to like me.  

Quoted from brinyskysail

Maybe that's the answer for me - more points toward being a non secretor...

For me too...

I used to get bitten up a lot as a child. All three of my children- two O negatives and a B positve- also get bitten up easily, but I don't.

I read somewhere that consuming a lot of B vitamins makes mosquitoes less likely to bite you. I've been taking B complex for years, but none of my kids do. My guess is that it's the B vitamins I take that make me taste bad to the mosquitoes that bite my kids.

What dosage of B's do you take Ruthie?  I've been taking 50 mg. 3x a day for years and that hasn't stopped the little critters from helping themselves to me.

Quoted from Patty H

Fantastic article, Linda.  Thanks for hunting it down.  I am a non-secretor but they still seem to like me.  

You're welcome Patty, I remembered reading something about it once in the past, because I remember being outside with my type A brother, and the mosquitos were eating him alive and I didn't have a bite on me...

Quoted from 14428

You're welcome Patty, I remembered reading something about it once in the past, because I remember being outside with my type A brother, and the mosquitos were eating him alive and I didn't have a bite on me...

Hmmm - maybe he is a secretor and you are a nonnie?

I get bitten, but there are usually others around who are suffering worse than I am!  Maybe that's the other nonnie advantage...

I'm a nonnie and have always gotten chewed up by mosquitoes.  If it's not blood sugar, or hormones, or secretor status, it must be something else.

It could even be things like hair spray or deoderant.  I have problems with scents/chemical smells so I don't wear anything "smelly", and I don't get bit

Quoted from Patty H

Last night I was at a BBQ.  When dusk fell, the mosquitoes were out in force.     Four people immediately headed inside the house because they were getting eaten alive, one of whom was me.

I took a poll of the others inside.  They were all type O's!  Is there any evidence that mosquitoes have a preference for blood type?  

I was at an outdoor dinner party last night and I got eaten alive, too. The first mosquitos of the season! Ugh.

My ex and I are both A's and I would get eaten alive while he remained bite-free.

I have heard theories about estrogen and B complex, but according to the above reports nothing seems to be conclusive...