Why do insects prefer to bite certain people?
Why are some people magnets for mosquitos & others not? CrowdScience looks at how our habits, diets & genes make us an attractive meal & exposes a hidden world of chemical signals
A lovely day out in the countryside can be blighted when swarms of midges or mosquitos invite themselves to the party. A CrowdScience listener in New Zealand has noticed that, when sand-flies come a-biting, she and her daughter are targeted, while her husband and other daughter escape unharmed. She wants to know why some, but not all of her family become bait for insect bites. CrowdScience delves into a world of smells, called semiochemistry, which explores the aromas one animal uses to attract or repel another. Does our attractiveness as a blood meal to insects come down to what we wear, what we’ve eaten or is it all in our genes? Host Marnie Chesterton discards the DEET and bravely offers herself up as a meal for mozzies, in a quest for answers.
(Photo:Mosquito on skin. Credit: Getty Images)
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How do flies 'bite'?
Duration: 01:19
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- Fri 21 Feb 2020 20:32GMTΒι¶ΉΤΌΕΔ World Service Australasia, Online, Americas and the Caribbean, UK DAB/Freeview & Europe and the Middle East only
- Fri 21 Feb 2020 21:32GMTΒι¶ΉΤΌΕΔ World Service News Internet & East Asia only
- Sun 23 Feb 2020 00:32GMTΒι¶ΉΤΌΕΔ World Service
- Mon 24 Feb 2020 05:32GMTΒι¶ΉΤΌΕΔ World Service Online, UK DAB/Freeview, News Internet & Europe and the Middle East only
- Mon 24 Feb 2020 06:32GMTΒι¶ΉΤΌΕΔ World Service Australasia, Americas and the Caribbean & South Asia only
- Mon 24 Feb 2020 07:32GMTΒι¶ΉΤΌΕΔ World Service East and Southern Africa & East Asia only
- Mon 24 Feb 2020 11:32GMTΒι¶ΉΤΌΕΔ World Service West and Central Africa
- Mon 24 Feb 2020 14:32GMTΒι¶ΉΤΌΕΔ World Service Australasia
- Mon 24 Feb 2020 18:32GMTΒι¶ΉΤΌΕΔ World Service East and Southern Africa, South Asia & West and Central Africa only
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CrowdScience
Answering your questions about life, Earth and the universe