never being bitten and stung ...

[joko]

i was just thinking about how i have never been bitten or stung by anything...even when others around me are being chomped on like mad

and i wondered what it was that makes my blood totally unnatractive to things but others blood very attractive...its just the usual O positive type.

i know nothing about this sort of thing but i wondered if it was something that could be used to create a sort of 'deterrent' ... perhaps if some peoples blood contains some sort of component that differs slightly from others could it be extracted and used kind of like a 'vaccine' that helps stop people being bitten in the first place, and so lessening the spread of other diseases like malaria etc...

or is this not how it could work? ... is it nothing to do with my blood? perhaps its my skin? or something else?

just a thought...

cheers

[jomifl]

Joko I presume that you are referring to mozzies and midges, I believe they go for people with particular qualities of blood. Perhaps it is a case of your blood not having something they want. When I was working in the Galloway hills some of my colleagues got eaten alive whilst others got off quite lightly.

[jomifl]

Don't rely on bees and wasps not stinging you. When bees get angry they will sting anything or anybody.

[LazyGun]

Well, as far as mosquitos go, they arent attracted by your blood in the sense of wishing to feed - rather, they are looking for a host to lay their eggs.

The reason some people are apparently ( important qualifying word, that) more susceptible to insect bites, stings etc is probably multifactorial. There seems to be a tendency to attack a larger person/prey, which is often determined by Carbon Dioxide exhalation -larger people and pregnant women for instance tend to have more CO2 in their breath.Then there are factors like the uric acid levels on the skin, or the levels of cholesterol - and probably more than a few others as well :)
Those people exercising hard for instance - greater expiration of CO2, and exuding lactic acid as well.

And obviously, with such multifactorial triggers, it becomes much more difficult to find a single solution, such as a vaccine.

So, although some insects will suck blood, they are attracted to their targets less by sensing something in the blood, and more by chemicals on the surface - and the primary reason for biting is less to do with feeding, and more to do with egglaying.

[237SJ]

A friend of mine said it`s people who give off more carbon dioxide through their skin (the unfit apparently) who don`t get stung. I asked a colleague who was an entomologist in a previous life though, and he said everyone gets stung, it`s just that some people react and others don`t.

[seadogg]

Ditto the mosquitoes in the Rockies. Far worse than the Highlands midges yet some folk seem immune. Being high on the mountain is the only escape for those of us whom they find attractive.

[rov1100]

I believe they can't stand the smell of garlic. In fact they tell you to eat some before going into the midge infected forests of Scotland.

[jomifl]

LG, moquitoes as in anopheles?

[LazyGun]

@ Jomifil. Aye, anopheles.

Male anopheles mozzies rely on sugar/ nectar. Females are the one that bite and draw blood - the blood offers a rich source of protein to aid in egg development, but it has always been my understanding that the blood feeding is less to do with satisfying appetite and much more to do with egg development and more importantly, the laying of the eggs in a suitable host.

And its not something in the blood of the prey that attracts mozzies to attack, but a combination of CO2 expiration, various compounds on the skin etc.

This is based on information derived from identifying malarial parasites in blood smears, rather than being a student of mosquitos :)

[suechu]

Whenever our cat got fleas, out of our family of 6 only 2 of us were ever bitten. Never could understand that.

[emmie]

i have been a victim of their hatred, mozzies that is, bitten hundreds of times or more on one holiday, the fact that the area had the worse infestation in living memory, though we didn't know that, and only came to light when hotel owner mentioned it in passing.

[jomifl]

LG, my understanding of the mosquito life cycle is that they lay their eggs in water and the larvae are filter feeders. I have not heard of any that have a substantially different life cycle. Most mosquitoes (females included) do not feed on blood at all but on nectar and other sugary secretions from plants as you mentioned earlier.

[LazyGun]

@ jomifil- sorry, I misspoke in my earlier post, having mixed up anopheles eggs with the plasmodium parasite, the cause of malaria. Re the mosquito life cycle, you are correct about where the eggs were laid.the females, whilst able to develop eggs with a sugar/fructose meal prefer a blood meal if convenient.this process of feeding is when the plasmodium parAsite is transferred to a new host, very often human. Apologies for any confusion caused - my error and poor recall :)

[RATTER15]

Some people react to the bite, some dont, you all get bitten!!

[jno]

discussion here

http://www.guardian.c...0,5753,-24800,00.html

[jomifl]

LG. you wouldn't believe some of the 'senior moments' that I have :-)

[joko]

i dont believe anyones skin would just take a bite or sting without any reaction whatsoever ...

my skin goes red if scratch it, get a paper cut, use certain products, eat certain things or touch soil, and i also have eczema...and the notion that an insect could actually bite me, possible inject me with venom, or disease or just bacteria, and not only wouldnt i feel it, it would not even go red or sore or itchy, is ridiculous...

[boxtops]

If OH gets bitten, nothing happens - he reckons it's because he smokes, the mozzies don't like the taste.

[mccfluff]

when i was younger i was visiting an uncle who lived in the middle of a rubber plantation, we went for a walk at dusk and i got covered literally coverered in mozzies, any exposed piece of skin was attacked but my brother and my aunt, barely anything

funny thing now i can't remember the pain although i completley ballooned and had to be taken to hosp all i can remember is my mothers anger at her sister for being so stupid.....

[boxtops]

I never got bitten, ever, until I had a hysterectomy, after which time the bity things won't leave me alone. I always reckoned that the quality of my blood improved after that....

[nannybooby]

a friend of mine who never got stung or bitten reacons it is due to drinking scotch.......do you ?