ArticleCell2022
Differential mosquito attraction to humans is associated with skin-derived carboxylic acid levels.
Article in Cell, 2022. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 59 papers, 1 of them a synthesis that pooled it.
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Who cites it
59 citing papers in PubMed, 1 synthesis or guideline pooled it.
- Repellent effects of insecticides against Aedes aegypti: a systematic review.Parasites & vectors · 2025Pooled it
- Behavioral determinants of disease transmission by mosquitoes.Current opinion in insect science · 2026Review
- Undernutrition enhances host attractiveness to mosquitoes and transmission of mosquito-borne diseases.Cell research · 2026Article
- Sexually Dimorphic Visual Processing in the Yellow-Fever Mosquito,bioRxiv : the preprint server for biology · 2026Article
- Microbiome-mediated chemical communication in insects: Implications for pest management.Pest management science · 2026Review
- Article
- Advances in mosquito olfaction: Genetic, genomic, and behavioral approaches in Aedes aegypti.Current opinion in neurobiology · 2026Review
- The sensory biology of mosquito gustation.Current opinion in neurobiology · 2026Review
- Cyphers and cycles - A chemical basis of the differential attraction of mosquitoes to human odor.iScience · 2026Article
- Behavioral heterogeneity in host seeking and post-feeding suppression among disease vector mosquitoes.Communications biology · 2026Article
- Functional characterization of AsOBP21f, an odorant-binding protein involved in human odor detection in the malaria vector Anopheles sinensis.Parasites & vectors · 2026Article
- Evaluating repellence properties of a catnip essential oil-based mosquito repellent using the human landing catch method in Eastern Uganda.Scientific reports · 2026Article
- Gustatory avoidance of fatty acids byProceedings of the National Academy of Sciences of the United States of America · 2026Article
- Article
- Behavioral divergence between a generalist and a specialist mosquito despite minimal differentiation across chemosensory receptor gene families.bioRxiv : the preprint server for biology · 2025Article
- The effects of human volatiles produced by skin microbiota on Forcipomyia (Lasiohelea) taiwana host preference.Pest management science · 2025Article
- Microbial Volatiles from Human Skin and Floral Nectar: Insufficiently Understood Adult Feeding Cues To Improve Odor-Based Traps for Aedes Vector Control.Journal of chemical ecology · 2025Review
- When noncanonical olfaction is optimal.Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences of the United States of America · 2025Article
- The olfactory neurobiology and chemical ecology of mosquito attraction to plant nutrient sources.Proceedings. Biological sciences · 2025Review
- A single-nucleus transcriptomic atlas of the adultbioRxiv : the preprint server for biology · 2025Article
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Abstract
Some people are more attractive to mosquitoes than others, but the mechanistic basis of this phenomenon is poorly understood. We tested mosquito attraction to human skin odor and identified people who are exceptionally attractive or unattractive to mosquitoes. These differences were stable over several years. Chemical analysis revealed that highly attractive people produce significantly more carboxylic acids in their skin emanations. Mutant mosquitoes lacking the chemosensory co-receptors Ir8a, Ir25a, or Ir76b were severely impaired in attraction to human scent, but retained the ability to differentiate highly and weakly attractive people. The link between elevated carboxylic acids in "mosquito-magnet" human skin odor and phenotypes of genetic mutations in carboxylic acid receptors suggests that such compounds contribute to differential mosquito attraction. Understanding why some humans are more attractive than others provides insights into what skin odorants are most important to the mosquito and could inform the development of more effective repellents.
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