What makes a person more attractive to biting insects like fleas and mosquitoes?

Question

It has always seemed that fleas and mosquitoes have bothered me more than anyone else around me. One time my family and I returned from a vacation to find a house of hungry fleas, as our cat had been boarded at the vet. Within minutes, I had probably 20 fleas on each of my ankles while everyone else seemed to be unaffected. Is there something about a person's blood, skin or something else that would make biting insects attack a person more often than someone else?

Answer 1

Biting insects choose who to bite based on the pheromones you give off. There is nothing to suggest they prefer a certain gender or blood type, but if you give off the kind of pheromones they're attracted to, you're going to get bitten a lot more often than someone who gives off the kind they're not so keen on. For example, I am female and the same blood type as my mother - I never get bitten, whilst she and my brother do. I have heard that eating Marmite can put biting insects off biting you - I don't know how true this is, but it's possible it could cause you to give off a scent the biters find unpleasant.

Answer 2

i don't know about the fleas, but mosquitoes are attracted to exhaled carbon dioxide, body heat and movement. maybe something about your body chemistry makes you more of a target.

Answer 3

nice pure blood