Research: Mosquitoes have taste discrimination that makes them bite some people more than others

Mosquitoes are likely to be able to distinguish tastes — some of which affect the insectʼs appetite and biological processes. A combination of salts from human sweat and amino acids on the skin makes mosquitoes bite people.

Scientists at Yale University investigated which flavors increase the appetite of mosquitoes, and which, on the contrary, decrease it, reports Phys.org.

During the study, experts tested 46 taste compounds of various origins on tiger mosquitoes. Taste neurons of mosquitoes react differently to stimuli. For example, sugars excite many neurons and cause appetite, while bitter compounds are depressing.

This is how scientists found out that mosquitoes can most likely distinguish tastes. This depends, for example, on the reproduction of mosquitoes and their other biological processes.

It turned out that separately salt and some amino acids, which are usually contained in human sweat, only in combination increase the appetite of mosquitoes.

"We think this may be part of the reason why some of us are bitten by mosquitoes much more than others," said one of the researchers.

Thanks to this finding, scientists will be able to develop drugs that will protect people from mosquito bites, especially those that carry diseases such as malaria, dengue fever and the Zika virus.

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