Some people claim mozzies leave them alone, others can't seem to avoid them even if just quickly getting the mail from the letter box.
So, with no intention to be correct I qutoe a bit of the latest blahblah on how mozzies find you:
The initial trigger is the CO2 we exhale.
Being exposed to the right amount of CO2 in a spot makes the optical receptors and the tiny mozzie brain go into over drive.
A bit like you getting fully alert when crawling out of bed to jump under a cold shower.
Their vision improves, or to be precise sems to focus really strong in the red spectrum of the light.
The only thing out there reflecting this much red while also producing CO2 is things filled with blood - YOU and me.
And so the curious girl follows the trail of CO2 and red until it is able to directly sense the warmth coming from this potential food source.
At the last few centimeters these litle suckers can even directly see the diferent shades of red produced by all those blood vessels close to your skin.
And no, your skin color has no affect here as the amount of red light you emit is virtually the same.
I did mention they seem to be perfectly equippend for the task that now can't be avoided?
Once they land it only takes seconds to drain you out....
The usualy repellants work by making the experience of poking us very unpleasant, or even fatal.
Sadly though this is not always enough as the little suckers still try.
Only if they are so disgusted by the intital skin contact that it stinks they give up early.
Only those early stops prevent their juices from entering your tissue
Why not mess with the factors that allows them to find you?
We can't stop breathing but we can use clothing that is of green ,white, blue or such colors and WON'T let too much light pass through.
And how hard would it be to create some sort of "sunscreen" that filters our the red and maybe the cyan areas of the light?
When going in the snow people already like to go with colorful noses and ears - here the coloration of the sunscreen is to let you know you might have lost a bit in the last face slide downhill...
I really think that a dedicated red filter you can apply like sunscreen on exposed skin should mess up those mozzies quite a bit.
And if it also contains some natural defense like teatree or eucalyptus oil even those mozzies that reached you anyway should be disgusted by your taste and buzz off.
Anyone here into making of cremes, lotions or other skin care products who could mix something up?
