Do YOU get eaten alive by mosquitoes? The simple ways to tell if you’re top of the winged terrors’ hit list
Blood type, your weight, the colour of your clothes even drinking beer can put you firmly in the sights of a mozzie
SUMMER'S here but it's not all long warm nights and fun in the sun.
For millions, the hot weather means endless itching and scratching - no, not hayfever but that other warm weather pest, the mosquito.
Most people will be able to tell you straight away if they sit in the "bitten alive" camp or "not bothered by them".
But, why DO mozzies make a beeline for some, but miss out other more fortunate folk on their quest for food?
One in 10 people are highly tasty to the winged terrors, but it's not just dinner they're seeking out.
Female mosquitoes - boys don't bite - need human blood to develop fertile eggs.
And not just anyone will do.
There are a number of things that increase your risk of getting munched on, some you can help but others you can't...
MOST READ IN HEALTH
1. THE TASTE OF YOU
Given mosquitoes bite us to harvest our blood, it seems a sensible place to start.
The fact of the matter is this, the winged pests are more partial to certain blood types than others.
So whether you like it or not, those of you with Type O are nearly twice as likely to get bitten as the Type Aers among us.
Meanwhile you Type B lot fall somewhere in the middle of the itch-threat spectrum.
2. SIZE MATTERS
We all know being overweight or obese is bad for our health.
It increases the risk of a whole host of deadly diseases, from type 2 diabetes to 13 types of cancer as well as heart disease.
But, if that wasn't enough to make you lay off the sweet treats and get down the gym, this might give you an extra kick!
The fatter you are, the more likely you are to fall victim to a thirsty mozzie.
The pests track down their prey by sniffing for carbon dioxide, according to the National Institutes of Health in the US.
Every one of us breathes out CO2 in the plumes of air we exhale.
But the bigger you are the more CO2 you release, which also helps explain why kids are less likely to get bitten than their parents.
3. BOOZE YOU LOSE
When the sun finally makes an appearance from behind the cloud cover, chances are you will reach for a drink, an alcoholic one.
But it turns out boozing can impact on how tasty you seem to mosquitoes.
A study found people who drink a bottle of beer were more likely to get bitten.
The authors wrote: "Persons drinking alcohol should be careful about their increased risk to mosquito bites and therefore exposure to mosquito-borne diseases."
4. ARE YOU EXPECTING?
As if swollen ankles, sleepless nights and back pain isn't enough, mums-to-be are also more likely to be picked on my mozzies.
Studies have shown pregnant women exhale 21 per cent more carbon dioxide - a turn-on to the six-legged pests - and so are more likely to get sought out.
5. COLOUR OF YOUR CLOTH
If you find mozzie bites the bane of your summer existence, you might need to rethink your holiday wardrobe.
Professor Jonathan Day, from the University of Florida, the first way a mosquito will hunt you out is using their eyesight.
And he added, people dressed in dark colours, think black, navy and red, are most visible to the winged terrors.
6. WRITTEN IN YOUR DNA
Like your blood type, there are other factors that make you more attractive to a mozzie, that you just can't help.
And your DNA is one of them.
A person's is thought to account for around 85 per cent of the reason they get attacked.
So chances are if a family member is ravaged by the pests, you might be too.
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