Why do mosquitos tend to avoid biting human faces?

520 views

I know it’s possible that they do but my whole life I’ve been bitten all over the body from mosquitos but hardly ever the face (only one time in 30 years)

I always figured the face would be easiest since it’s exposed the most.

In: Biology

3 Answers

Anonymous 0 Comments

There’s a few different reasons I could assume

1. Your face is almost always moving, from talking, laughing, expressing emotions, breathing, etc. And so is probably a less desirable landing pad, as the motion would tend to spook off mosquitoes

2. Your face is very sensitive and full of nerves. Unlike some other parts of our body, you can feel even the lightest touches to your face, and so anytime a mousquito gets close, we tend to swipe them away (at least I do) where the actual veins of your face are, are very sensitive areas, and again, not very optimal landing pads.

I’ve gotten bites on my forehead before for sure, and bites on my face when I was sleeping, but typically any mousquito that gets near my face when I am conscious is dealt with pretty quickly.

Anonymous 0 Comments

Mosquitoes sense the host based on sweat, carbon dioxide emission and temperature. Also the sweat and temperature of the face will be slightly less than other body parts.

Anonymous 0 Comments

Apparently mosquitos are smart enough to to bite where they can avoid being seen and therefore swatted. I’m sure the sweat has something to do with it too. I get bit on the back of the neck, behind the knees. They rarely bite me where I can see them.