Man's Reaction to Mosquito Bites

Abstract

IN reply to the query of Dr. Bristowe¹, variations in the attractiveness of different individuals to mosquitoes can be demonstrated in field experiments, which prove that whatever attracts mosquitoes can be measured quantitatively. Anophelines are readily deterred by minute quantities of pyrethrum², and in huts sprayed regularly random ingress is eliminated, and it then becomes possible to demonstrate their acute discrimination. In such huts I found that c. 250 per cent more females of Anopheles funestus, A, gambiœ and A. melas were attracted to three men than to one man, and by rotating sleeping duties I showed that over a period of three months one of the four men used was fairly consistently more attractive than any of the other three.