Mosquitoes may ruin an otherwise pleasant summer day. Let’s pretend you’re at a backyard BBQ, a children’s birthday party, a swimming pool, trekking, or simply watching your children play outside. Then it hits you like a ton of bricks. In a bind. It’s an itch. The uncontrollable need to scrape your flesh. It was a mosquito bite. If you’re allergic to mosquito bites, your skin may swell up and cause a lot of pain. You may also notice several mosquito bites, prompting you to seek refuge in the nearest indoor space to avoid the biting bugs.
There are a variety of methods for avoiding mosquito bites. Long sleeved shirts and trousers are acceptable. Mosquito repellent can be sprayed on your skin. You can keep your backyard free of standing water by emptying bird baths and other water sources once a week.
Now, a recent study has given us even another intriguing suggestion about how to keep mosquitos away from humans. We might be able to persuade them to leave us alone if we avoid wearing specific colors.
Mosquitos are particularly drawn to the hues red, orange, black, and cyan, according to a study published in the journal “Nature Communications.” Lighter hues, such as blue, green, and purple, do not appeal to them. Mosquitos were placed in test chambers with a colored dot, and researchers discovered this. The mosquitos disregarded any color dot, but when researchers sprayed carbon dioxide in the room, certain colors were drawn to the mosquitos while others were ignored.
Mosquitos seek us out and attack us because they are drawn to the carbon dioxide in our breath. They may also be drawn to the color red since it is the hue they see when they look at human skin, according to researchers. “When light interacts with human skin, regardless of skin tone, it reflects a reddish tint,” says Nancy Troyano, Ph.D., a board-certified entomologist and Director of Operations Education and Training at Ehrlich Pest Control.
Researchers believe that mosquitos are drawn to orange, black, and cyan because these hues remind them of shadows. “Light colors are viewed as a danger to mosquitoes, which is why many species avoid biting in direct sunlight,” says Timothy Best, a board-certified entomologist and technical manager at Terminix.
Although there’s no assurance that a mosquito will bite you if you wear black but not if you wear purple, it can’t hurt. If you have a choice between many clothing colors and are heading somewhere where there are likely to be a lot of mosquitos, consider wearing light-colored clothes rather than dark-colored clothing.
Are you allergic to mosquito bites? What do you usually do to avoid getting bitten by mosquitoes? Are you going to try wearing light colored clothing?
