Mosquito biting studied

HERTFORDSHIRE, England, Jan. 19 (UPI) -- British researchers think they may have found the answer to why some people get bitten by mosquitoes more than others.

The researchers supported by the Biotechnology and Biological Sciences Research Council in Hertfordshire, England, say their work could lead to new types of insect repellent.

James Logan, one of the researchers, says some people give off "masking" odors that prevent mosquitoes from finding them.

His research builds on earlier studies which showed that the number of flies on a herd depended on certain cows being present.

Logan tested the behavioral reaction of yellow fever mosquitoes to the odor of the volunteers.

"The mosquitoes were placed into a y-shaped tube and given the choice of moving upwind down either branch. The air flowing down one branch was laced with odor from the volunteer's hands," he said.

The results suggest differential attractiveness is due to compounds in unattractive individuals that switch off attraction either by acting as repellents or by masking the attractant components of human odor.

The research appears in the January issue of Business, the quarterly magazine of the Biotechnology and Biological Sciences Research Council.