Naked Science Forum
Life Sciences => Plant Sciences, Zoology & Evolution => Topic started by: Make it Lady on 24/08/2009 21:12:18
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I am very, very bitten by mosquitos. They love me and can't get enough of my taste. They treat me as an all you can eat buffet. What I'd like to know is, is there something that I could eat, drink or put on me that would make me repulsive to them? Insect repellent is not good for my asthma so I'm not keen on using it too much. Any suggestions?
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Put some lemon juice on your night stand
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Some say eating Marmite helps deter mozzies, but others say it has no effect. Maybe it works for some, not for others.
Coal tar soap is also claimed to help.
As Nizzle said, they don't like lemon, so perhaps you should squeeze a lemon in your bath water and have a dip. Maybe there is a citronella bath oil.
Yep, just found this http://www.shower-curtains.org/auracaciacitronellabathoil2flozguatemalaindia.aspx (http://www.shower-curtains.org/auracaciacitronellabathoil2flozguatemalaindia.aspx)
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I am a mobile mosquito banquet too. It is the main reason that I don't live on the west coast of Scotland. I have a pet theory that it may be related to blood group - I am A+. My wife who is A- hardly ever gets bitten and a friend who also tends to get eaten alive is A+ as well.
In a semi controlled test carried out whilst camping recently, Avon cosmetics "skin so soft" outperformed Jungle Formula by 25 bites to 43. I clearly cannot prove whether this related to the products or some sort of unlikely left/right leg bias known only to the bitting blighters. The only safe conlcusion is that neither are 100% effective!
However,I have resigned myself to dosing myself up with antihistamine and having antihistamine cream by the bed when i am likely to get bitten.
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As one who is also a mozzie magnet, I find a citronella candle is good in a closed room, but the best is a vapouriser with a pyrethroid. Sorry about the ashtma, but I sleep better without mozzies ( and as there is a definite probability of malaria here) so I would prefer the breath problems to the living infestation.
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Put some lemon juice on your night stand
My night stand isn't getting bitten so I'll put it on me instead.
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I'm O+ so that rules that out. I will mug an Avon Lady and see what she has though.
I am a mobile mosquito banquet too. It is the main reason that I don't live on the west coast of Scotland. I have a pet theory that it may be related to blood group - I am A+. My wife who is A- hardly ever gets bitten and a friend who also tends to get eaten alive is A+ as well.
In a semi controlled test carried out whilst camping recently, Avon cosmetics "skin so soft" outperformed Jungle Formula by 25 bites to 43. I clearly cannot prove whether this related to the products or some sort of unlikely left/right leg bias known only to the bitting blighters. The only safe conlcusion is that neither are 100% effective!
However,I have resigned myself to dosing myself up with antihistamine and having antihistamine cream by the bed when i am likely to get bitten.
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As one who is also a mozzie magnet, I find a citronella candle is good in a closed room, but the best is a vapouriser with a pyrethroid. Sorry about the ashtma, but I sleep better without mozzies ( and as there is a definite probability of malaria here) so I would prefer the breath problems to the living infestation.
I don't have a breath problem, oh I see what you mean. I thought you meant I had bad breath.
We did use one of these but the bites still happened to a certain extent.
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I'm O+ so that rules that out. I will mug an Avon Lady and see what she has though.
... I have a pet theory that it may be related to blood group - I am A+. My wife who is A- hardly ever gets bitten and a friend who also tends to get eaten alive is A+ as well.
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It could be the Rh+/- ? (my theory limps along!
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Mosquitos are attracted by 3 human factors:
- IR radiation, or body heat.
- Moisture, or sweat.
- Smell, or bacterial composition on your skin, which makes some people's sweat smell funky.
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Great, so now I have funky sweat! Funky sweat and mosquito bites. I think I'll give up now.
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I believe they are also attracted by carbon dioxide, so you could try breathing a lot less, or get one of those re-breather things that divers use.
BTW, I used to live in the West of Scotland. I don't remember seeing any mosquitoes, but the midges there really sucked, your blood that is. (I suppose they are just mini-mosquitoes.)
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The Scottish midge is a nasty version of a mosquito but with the bonus in the fact that they wont kill you as they don't carry malaria.
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I believe they are also attracted by carbon dioxide, so you could try breathing a lot less, or get one of those re-breather things that divers use.
After the funky sweat I think I'll stop breathing altogether so that will help.
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The Scottish midge is a nasty version of a mosquito but with the bonus in the fact that they wont kill you as they don't carry malaria.
The evil little buggers gang up and go around in great swarms shouting things like "Tongs Ya Bas!" too. I always found it was best to avoid any form of eye contact and quickly cross to the other side of the street.
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I have the same trouble with dentists. Nasty little things, always so cheerful to torture you. They spend evenings loitering on street corners in dentist gangs intimidating innocent people with their talk of root canal fillings and £300 bills. Attracted by the smell of money and tooth decay. Unfortunately there are very few dentist repellents, although I find swatting them with a newspaper usually helps.
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Oh, that's easy to fix. Get a doggie. Preferably an Alsation (aka German Shepherd). Dentists hate Alsations. I had an Alsation who went by the name of Heidi. She was a big doggie. Heidi could spot a dentist at 500 yards.
I really should not admit to this, but Heidi and I used to go out trolling for dentists just to see the looks on their faces when they saw her coming at them.
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Friend of mine was on holliday in Borneo for 2 weeks. First few days he was bitten all over his body. His guide who took him to see the World's largest flower noticed his bite marks and itching and and gathered some lemon grass and crushed it between a couple of stones, then rubbed the oil on his hands and applied it to the skin. No more bites for the entire remaining holliday.
Another friend of mine used aloe gel rubbed on her skin again no more bites.
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Mosquitos are attracted by 3 human factors:
- IR radiation, or body heat.
- Moisture, or sweat.
- Smell, or bacterial composition on your skin, which makes some people's sweat smell funky.
Carbon dioxide is thought to be a main attraction, they follow it for a considerable distance, mozzi traps use this to trap the blighters, so it is our breath that is the main attraction and garlic could help a lot.
http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2005/06/050607013042.htm
Ooops just spotted your post Geeza :)
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When I went on my honeymoon to Ireland I got bitten and scratched all over on the first night. Mind you that was just my wife.
Talking of my wife, I heard that only pregnant female mosquitoes feed on blood. Is that true? I've heard that some repellents mimic male mozzies which pregnant female try to avoid.
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Yes John, only the female feeds on blood.
You could aviod be bitten by draining your body of blood. Become a Halal human.
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Did you ever consider taking that bag off your head?
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I only have it on because my breath is attracting mozzies.
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Well, it you indulge in all that "potty mouth" chatter, what do you expect? You might try mouthwash though.
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Old folks recommend white clothes, to avoid keds.
If it works with bees, maybe with keds and mosquitos too.
Could be, that it's only part of the solution. Second part
would be the other person, tagging along in normal darkish clothes [:)]
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You could always try gurning
(https://www.thenakedscientists.com/forum/proxy.php?request=http%3A%2F%2Fto55er.files.wordpress.com%2F2009%2F09%2Fgurning-man-weird.jpg%3Fw%3D400%26amp%3Bh%3D473&hash=76fc1161c6be969e9e7a0f594e62b4d5)
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What I'd like to know is, is there something that I could eat, drink or put on me that would make me repulsive to them?
Yes, leave your make up off.