Top 5 ways to be a mosquito magnet

9:22 AM, Aug 12, 2013   |    comments
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ATLANTA (WXIA) -- Are you the one who gets bitten by mosquitoes during outdoor activities while others are untouched?

You might be a mosquito magnet. There are five reasons why some are more attractive to mosquitoes than others. Mosquitoes are drawn to different people based on their diet, dress and blood type.

All the recent wet weather means it's a good old-fashioned, mosquito-filled summer. The numbers are higher than they've been in the last decade.

The last thing you want to do is attract them. What makes some of us more attractive? The Smithsonian has come up with a list.

1. Little biters love beer. Even if you drink just one bottle, skin gives off an ethanol through pores. Beer also raises body heat.

2. Exercise attracts mosquitoes through an increased level of acid in the body's system.

3. Pregnant women have higher body heat and they exhale 21 percent more carbon dioxide.

4. Blood type plays its part. Someone who has type O blood is twice as likely to get bit as someone who has type A. If you have type B blood, you're somewhere in the middle.

5. Mosquitoes bite based on what you wear. White does not attract the bugs, while dark colors of blue, red and black do. Mosquitoes look for a dark shape that's moving around as the sun goes down.

To protect yourself, wear good bug repellent and make sure that you wear something long, light and loose.

Another tip came from the New York Times, which published a great way to fight mosquitoes - plug in a oscillating fan while you sit outdoors. Mosquitoes are weak flyers, and the wind from the fan disperses the chemicals that humans emit.

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