5 ms·

Must be lots of low-hanging fruit in biological treatments. See, I went camping with the Scouts on Isle Royale, at the end of the week we were comparing mosqui

Must be lots of low-hanging fruit in biological treatments. See, I went camping with the Scouts on Isle Royale, at the end of the week we were comparing mosquito bites, averaging about 100 per. Then a young man Luke said offhand "Mosquitoes don't bite me." And sure enough, his skin was totally clear. I said "Luke, you bottle that, you're a millionaire."

Bellamy 5y ago
You gotta explain this to me. I have no idea what this is about but made me laugh.
- JoeAltmaier 5y ago
  Whatever gene or skin oil or whatever, Luke has it. I wish I could do that. I'd pay cash.
x1798DE 5y ago
I used to get mosquito bites but I stopped getting them as an adult. I realized after a while that my skin stopped reacting to them even though the mosquitos were still biting me. I recently managed to coax one into biting me to test my hypothesis. I felt it go into my skin and watched it suck for a bit, but it didn't get particularly engorged on it. No mark the next day. My son had a bitemark from a non-deliberate bite, though. It seems to be a known phenomenon (though I have no idea why it happened to me): https://outdoors.stackexchange.com/questions/4310/is-it-possible-to-develop-immunity-against-mosquitos https://outdoors.stackexchange.com/questions/4310/is-it-poss...
- emerged 5y ago
  I think for some of us they literally don’t even bite anymore. They certainly have preferences in blood type. I also have super visible veins as a relatively thin athletic person, yet they just seem to have no interest in what’s on the menu. It’s quite a luxury as someone who spends lots of time on trails. But I also feel somehow offended. What’s so bad about MY blood?
  - vmception 5y ago
    I believe they all follow trails of your breath, which is why they can be reliably found above your bed when inside So its likely about how that smells Or other trails toward you, while they probably would enjoy your blood in actuality even if they think they’re detecting something related to how the meal would taste or its nutrition levels by proxy Let me know what you all know!
    - ashtonkem 5y ago
      > So its likely about how that smells I thought the theory was that they follow the CO2 we exhale.
      - vmception 5y ago
        Yes thats the one, what word would you like to use for that sensory molecule detection There is still some difference in who they choose to follow or act upon so I’m grasping for where that difference is. Could be something alongside the CO2
        ashtonkem 5y ago
        Humans exhale all kinds of stuff aside from just CO2, including moisture and other metabolic byproducts depending on what you’re eating. Probably some bacterial metabolic products from our mouths too. I guess I’m less into the semantic difference between “smell” and “detect” and more whether it’s the CO2 they’re following or something else we exhale regularly.
        vmception 5y ago
        Yeah I’m curious too, I think thats the right direction to research
  - ashtonkem 5y ago
    Oh, that’s an interesting observation I’ve never realized until you pointed it out. I’ve always been the target of mosquitos more than anyone else I know, but it seems to get worse the fitter I am. Now that I’m a bit pudgy and out of shape, I haven’t had anywhere near as many bites. But, to be fair for me being fit and being in the regions where mosquitos exist en masse is a related phenomenon. Out of shape me spends less time on trails than fit me.
knodi123 5y ago
> "Luke, you bottle that, you're a millionaire." Or you get assassinated by Big Mosquito Repellent. I wouldn't mess with those people. Stick to inventing a cheap carbon-negative replacement for gasoline. Far fewer people angry at you upsetting the apple cart.
- chiefalchemist 5y ago
  Fewer? Perhaps. But the depth of those pockets are 100× Big Mosquito Repellent. Put another way, we've been going to war over oil for years. One more body on that pile isn't difficult to imagine.
  - Nition 5y ago
    I think the previous comment was being sarcastic. And sort of making a joke that whatever you go after, you're going to upset some big corp somewhere.
  - cellis 5y ago
    > 100x Big Mosquito […] off by about 3 or 4 orders of magnitude unfortunately
- MisterBastahrd 5y ago
  The little permetherin pads that OFF sells are the best things anywhere. I used to live in a suburb of New Orleans surrounded by swamps, and those things drive mosquitos away. Vastly better than mosquito coils and reusable... just dip them in more permetherin solution and they'll last for another 4 hours. Someone needs to come up with a system that involves a rechargable battery pack and a tiny heating element along with a little kit for redipping and storage. Sportsmen everywhere would love that product.
ccleve 5y ago
Related: https://www.caryinstitute.org/news-insights/media-coverage/how-one-local-mans-immunity-ticks-could-save-us-all https://www.caryinstitute.org/news-insights/media-coverage/h... A man who studies ticks was bitten so many times that his body developed antibodies to tick saliva, which are now so powerful that they kill the ticks.
elorant 5y ago
My dad is like that. I'll stay on a veranda for five minutes wearing short pants, I'll easily get two or three bites. He stays for half an hour, he's invisible.
rootusrootus 5y ago
> "Mosquitoes don't bite me." That seems less likely than "My body doesn't generate a histamine response which results in a raised bump at the bite location."
- newman8r 5y ago
  I'm one of those people who's rarely affected by mosquitoes - but I'll still get bit. I'd estimate I get 1 bite for every 5 that anyone else I'm hiking with does. People will be complaining about how bad the mosquitoes are and I'll have ~0-2 bites. So in my case, I do have a response to at least some bites, but consistently fewer than anyone else I'm with.
- hombre_fatal 5y ago
  Mosquitoes rarely bite me unless I'm their only option. They won't bite me at all if someone else is in the vicinity (so, my poor girlfriend). You can quickly confirm whether it's no biting vs no reaction by the fact that you can see them flying around and landing on you. Or rather, around everyone else except you. They aren't invisible. Here in the tropics, other people will be covered in them.
smileysteve 5y ago
The secret we had in scouts was to take garlic supplements starting a week before. Did great at preventing all sorts of bites.
- jelliclesfarm 5y ago
  Neem oil here. It doesn’t kill insects..repels them and renders them sterile.
mrleinad 5y ago
Just a small pet peeve of mine: do mosquitoes bite or sting?
- InCityDreams 5y ago
  Stab/ Puncture?

Bellamy 5y ago

You gotta explain this to me. I have no idea what this is about but made me laugh.

JoeAltmaier 5y ago
Whatever gene or skin oil or whatever, Luke has it. I wish I could do that. I'd pay cash.

x1798DE 5y ago

I used to get mosquito bites but I stopped getting them as an adult. I realized after a while that my skin stopped reacting to them even though the mosquitos were still biting me. I recently managed to coax one into biting me to test my hypothesis. I felt it go into my skin and watched it suck for a bit, but it didn't get particularly engorged on it. No mark the next day. My son had a bitemark from a non-deliberate bite, though. It seems to be a known phenomenon (though I have no idea why it happened to me): https://outdoors.stackexchange.com/questions/4310/is-it-possible-to-develop-immunity-against-mosquitos https://outdoors.stackexchange.com/questions/4310/is-it-poss...

emerged 5y ago
I think for some of us they literally don’t even bite anymore. They certainly have preferences in blood type. I also have super visible veins as a relatively thin athletic person, yet they just seem to have no interest in what’s on the menu. It’s quite a luxury as someone who spends lots of time on trails. But I also feel somehow offended. What’s so bad about MY blood?
- vmception 5y ago
  I believe they all follow trails of your breath, which is why they can be reliably found above your bed when inside So its likely about how that smells Or other trails toward you, while they probably would enjoy your blood in actuality even if they think they’re detecting something related to how the meal would taste or its nutrition levels by proxy Let me know what you all know!
  - ashtonkem 5y ago
    > So its likely about how that smells I thought the theory was that they follow the CO2 we exhale.
    - vmception 5y ago
      Yes thats the one, what word would you like to use for that sensory molecule detection There is still some difference in who they choose to follow or act upon so I’m grasping for where that difference is. Could be something alongside the CO2
      - ashtonkem 5y ago
        Humans exhale all kinds of stuff aside from just CO2, including moisture and other metabolic byproducts depending on what you’re eating. Probably some bacterial metabolic products from our mouths too. I guess I’m less into the semantic difference between “smell” and “detect” and more whether it’s the CO2 they’re following or something else we exhale regularly.
        vmception 5y ago
        Yeah I’m curious too, I think thats the right direction to research
- ashtonkem 5y ago
  Oh, that’s an interesting observation I’ve never realized until you pointed it out. I’ve always been the target of mosquitos more than anyone else I know, but it seems to get worse the fitter I am. Now that I’m a bit pudgy and out of shape, I haven’t had anywhere near as many bites. But, to be fair for me being fit and being in the regions where mosquitos exist en masse is a related phenomenon. Out of shape me spends less time on trails than fit me.

knodi123 5y ago

> "Luke, you bottle that, you're a millionaire." Or you get assassinated by Big Mosquito Repellent. I wouldn't mess with those people. Stick to inventing a cheap carbon-negative replacement for gasoline. Far fewer people angry at you upsetting the apple cart.

chiefalchemist 5y ago
Fewer? Perhaps. But the depth of those pockets are 100× Big Mosquito Repellent. Put another way, we've been going to war over oil for years. One more body on that pile isn't difficult to imagine.
- Nition 5y ago
  I think the previous comment was being sarcastic. And sort of making a joke that whatever you go after, you're going to upset some big corp somewhere.
- cellis 5y ago
  > 100x Big Mosquito […] off by about 3 or 4 orders of magnitude unfortunately
MisterBastahrd 5y ago
The little permetherin pads that OFF sells are the best things anywhere. I used to live in a suburb of New Orleans surrounded by swamps, and those things drive mosquitos away. Vastly better than mosquito coils and reusable... just dip them in more permetherin solution and they'll last for another 4 hours. Someone needs to come up with a system that involves a rechargable battery pack and a tiny heating element along with a little kit for redipping and storage. Sportsmen everywhere would love that product.

ccleve 5y ago

Related: https://www.caryinstitute.org/news-insights/media-coverage/how-one-local-mans-immunity-ticks-could-save-us-all https://www.caryinstitute.org/news-insights/media-coverage/h... A man who studies ticks was bitten so many times that his body developed antibodies to tick saliva, which are now so powerful that they kill the ticks.

elorant 5y ago

My dad is like that. I'll stay on a veranda for five minutes wearing short pants, I'll easily get two or three bites. He stays for half an hour, he's invisible.

rootusrootus 5y ago

> "Mosquitoes don't bite me." That seems less likely than "My body doesn't generate a histamine response which results in a raised bump at the bite location."

newman8r 5y ago
I'm one of those people who's rarely affected by mosquitoes - but I'll still get bit. I'd estimate I get 1 bite for every 5 that anyone else I'm hiking with does. People will be complaining about how bad the mosquitoes are and I'll have ~0-2 bites. So in my case, I do have a response to at least some bites, but consistently fewer than anyone else I'm with.
hombre_fatal 5y ago
Mosquitoes rarely bite me unless I'm their only option. They won't bite me at all if someone else is in the vicinity (so, my poor girlfriend). You can quickly confirm whether it's no biting vs no reaction by the fact that you can see them flying around and landing on you. Or rather, around everyone else except you. They aren't invisible. Here in the tropics, other people will be covered in them.

smileysteve 5y ago

The secret we had in scouts was to take garlic supplements starting a week before. Did great at preventing all sorts of bites.

jelliclesfarm 5y ago
Neem oil here. It doesn’t kill insects..repels them and renders them sterile.

mrleinad 5y ago

Just a small pet peeve of mine: do mosquitoes bite or sting?

InCityDreams 5y ago
Stab/ Puncture?