Malaria
mosquitoes go to work cautiously before landing on human skin and
biting. Just before a mosquito lands, it reacts to both odours and heat
given off by the human body. Researchers at Wageningen University came
to this conclusion after studying images made with infrared-sensitive
cameras.
Their research was published in the scientific journal PLOS ONE on 2 May.Most malaria mosquitoes prefer human blood. They fly in the dark while their host is sleeping. In order to locate a host, they focus on traces of carbon dioxide, released by all animals, and on characteristic human odours. At a distance of 1.5 m from their host, they mainly follow body odours. Just before they land, however, heat radiating from the human body also plays a significant role.
