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You're not every mosquito's type

August 7, 2026 at 3:24pm

Aedes aegypti, 72 hours old
Looking for someone clean, naturally low on chemical defense and who doesn’t wear cologne or perfume. Bonus points if you’re a guy. Swipe left if you’re covered in plant volatiles.

If mosquitoes had Tinder, their profile would be absurdly specific — and according to a new Florida International University (FIU) study published in iScience, different species have completely different types. This shatters the myth of someone being a mosquito magnet. Though an individual may be highly attractive to one species of mosquito, they could be totally ignored by another.

The research could help scientists develop species-specific repellents or improve public health strategies in areas where mosquito-borne diseases are common. All three mosquito species used in this study are known to spread a variety of diseases including yellow fever, dengue and Zika with the Aedes aegypti, West Nile, dengue and dog heartworm with the Aedes albopictus, and West Nile with the Culex quinquefasciatus, among others.

By mapping out these species-specific chemical turn-ons and turn-offs, the FIU team is paving the way for potential next-generation, microbiome-based repellents that could disguise natural skin signals, making people far less attractive to mosquitoes.

Led by Matthew DeGennaro, neurogeneticist and director of FIU’s Biomolecular Sciences Institute, researchers pitted 119 human volunteers against three distinct vector species to decode what makes someone attractive to a mosquito. The verdict? Human host preference is entirely in the, well, proboscis of the beholder. Out of the 119 people, not a single human was universally attractive to all three species — meaning someone could be a total 10 to an Aedes aegypti, but completely invisible to an Asian tiger mosquito hanging out on the same patio.

Aedes albopictus, 1 week old
I’m a bit of a fragrance snob. Must smell like ketones and plant volatiles. If you don't bring heavy skin perfume to the table, don't even bother. My friends call me Asian tiger. Also, likes dogs.

The Asian tiger mosquitoes were driven by the presence of elevated levels of ketones and plant-like volatile compounds naturally secreted by skin. Aedes aegypti were not. They were more drawn to people who were not wearing scents and whose skin were lacking in certain volatile compounds. For them, it is less about what scents people were giving off and more about what they were not. Aedes aegypti also exhibited a slight preference for men over women. While they may have different tastes, both the Aedes albopictus and the Aedes aegypti are daytime feeders.

“It was interesting to see that each mosquito species was attracted to different people and different cues,” said Ph.D. candidate and study lead author Kaylee Marrero. “They were able to pick the odor and microbial signatures they liked out of a large group of people.”

Matthew DeGennaro in the lab

Matthew DeGennaro is the first scientist to ever create a mutant mosquito. The FIU biologist and neurogeneticist uses molecular genetics to answer globally critical questions including how do mosquitoes find people and how to stop the spread of deadly mosquito-borne diseases. His research has revealed new knowledge about mosquito behavior and mosquito control. Learn more about the researcher at FIU Discovery.

Culex quinquefasciatus, 4 days old
Looking for a zero-effort match. Definitely not a morning person. If your skin microbiome naturally lacks defensive volatiles, I'll see you after dark.

The third mosquito in the study — Culex quinquefasciatus — is known as the southern house mosquito and showed some similarities in host preference to the Aedes aegypti with a few distinct differences. These mosquitoes like people lacking in natural skin repellant volatiles, but they are nocturnal feeders and their attraction is heavily tied to composition of the skin microbiome — the microscopic ecosystem of bacteria, fungi and microbes living naturally on a person’s skin. DeGennaro said certain bacteria families acted as green lights for the southern house mosquito to feed while other bacteria families drove them away. So for these mosquitoes, it was less about the person and more about the bacteria living on their skin.

Human scent is a complex odor space comprising more than 1,000 volatile organic compounds, many uncharacterized. While scientists have long known that some people attract more mosquito bites than others, this study is the first to directly compare how multiple mosquito species respond to the same individuals. The study also shows that the different species have likely evolved distinct ways of sensing people.

“This connected so well with the differences in skin bacteria and odors,” DeGennaro said. “It is clear to me now that our skin microbiomes define our human odor signature. Each mosquito species found its own way to decode that signature.”

In addition to testing a person’s attractiveness to the three different species, the researchers also collected odor and microbiome samples, which enabled them to determine which volatile organic compounds and bacteria were present and at what levels. This insight revealed the odor cues each species is attracted to — information, Marrero says, that could help scientists to stop mosquitoes from spreading disease.

Just remember, the next time you are covered in mosquito bites while your friends walk away scratch-free, don't take it personally. You aren't sweeter — you just happen to be that specific mosquito’s type.