ATLANTA — You can’t always see them coming, but mosquitoes know how to find you.
Kaliyah Branch says mosquitoes always seem to attack her, the bites swell and turn red.
“It’s kind of annoying because it’s hard not, to like want to itch it,” Branch said.
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Georgia Tech professor Dr. David Hu said, “Living in Georgia, we have so many mosquitoes and they seem relentless,” adding, “It turns out that the traps for mosquitoes really don’t work very well.”
Channel 2’s Linda Stouffer learned researchers went to work with a student in mesh suit, swarms of mosquitoes, and special 3-D mapping that shows the flight paths of these bugs.
They tested dark and light fabric colors, and isolated what conditions attracted the bugs the most.
“Around my student Chris there’s a swarm of mosquitoes, basically around his head and shoulders and they ignore the rest of parts of his body,” Dr. Hu said.
He says testing shows the type of mosquito we have in Georgia is drawn to what we exhale, the carbon dioxide.
“The yellow fever mosquito that we have in Georgia. That mosquito is really inclined to bite your head and shoulders,” adding, “What they see is basically your odors, in particular the breath that we breathe.”
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Next, Georgia Tech researchers hope to develop better traps, to protect us when we’re outside. Worldwide, the bugs are not only irritating, they are dangerous- spreading disease.
With summer heat and wetter weather moving in now, we talked to walker Aamela Avery Moore on the Atlanta Beltline.
“I literally cannot, the mosquitoes have taken over,” Moore said.
“It’s a gift and a curse. It’s a gift because they love you, it’s a curse because it’s itchy and annoying. So I would say cover up as best you can,” Branch said.
The CDC says these are the best ways to protect yourself from mosquitoes.
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