Ep.10 Are mosquitoes attracted to light?

Surely you’re curious or at least amused by the question we’re answering today in the series “Myth or Fact”: Are mosquitoes attracted to light? It’s an interesting piece of information to say the least that we found on the internet, and if you want to know the answer, we invite you to follow Mr. Alexandru Vladimirescu, PhD in biology and head of the medical entomology laboratory at the Cantacuzino Institute.

What are you curious about? Write us in the comments and we’ll ask the specialist for you!

Interview transcript

The internet pages tell us that mosquitoes are attracted only by light. Mr. Vladimirescu, is that a myth or a reality?

Somewhere there is a myth. Why? Because it’s not just light they’re attracted to, or not just any light they’re attracted to. They are also attracted to carbon dioxide that is exhaled by living organisms, especially mammals, and also to odors exhaled by the human body, we’re talking about sweat, we’re talking about chemtrails, and so on. But, really, referring strictly to light, they… I have to tell you the paradox here: as you probably don’t know, mosquitoes don’t see very well in bright light. Paradoxical, isn’t it? They see very well in twilight, that’s why they also fly when the light is twilight. They’re also attracted to 2 types of wavelengths, i.e. wavelengths in the ultraviolet range, that’s why we have those mechanisms to kill mosquitoes, flies and other geese, precisely because they’re attracted to that blue light towards the ultraviolet range, but they’re also attracted to orange to red light, which actually mimics the skin color of mammals, including humans.