--- title: Why Mosquitoes Always Find You description: Scientists now understand how scent, sight and heat work together to lead the insects to humans canonical: https://time.com/3962362/mosquitoes-scent-sight-heat/ author: Sarah Begley article:opinion: false article:content_tier: free article:published_time: 2015-07-17T12:01:25.000Z article:modified_time: 2026-08-04T07:41:23.642Z article:section: Science og:title: Why Mosquitoes Will Always Track You Down og:description: Scientists now understand how the insects find humans to bite og:url: https://time.com/3962362/mosquitoes-scent-sight-heat/ og:site_name: TIME og:image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/bltecdfb867050a1285/69885b6335ba6f039ac0e3b7/mosquito.jpeg?branch=production&width=3840&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=16:9 og:image:width: 1200 og:image:height: 675 og:image:alt: 546996111 og:type: article twitter:card: summary_large_image twitter:title: Why Mosquitoes Will Always Track You Down twitter:description: Scientists now understand how the insects find humans to bite twitter:image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/bltecdfb867050a1285/69885b6335ba6f039ac0e3b7/mosquito.jpeg?branch=production&width=3840&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=16:9 ---  # Why Mosquitoes Will Always Track You Down ## Video: Overstepping Boundaries: The Danger of Invasive Species [Watch (HLS stream): Overstepping Boundaries: The Danger of Invasive Species](https://cdn.jwplayer.com/manifests/zHyAT7e9.m3u8) (2:18)  _Published 2013-12-04. What are invasive species, and why are they dangerous? TIME's Bryan Walsh explains how animals like the Asian carp, lionfish, and Burmese python can be a threat._ by [Sarah Begley](https://time.com/author/sarah-begley/) ## Sarah Begley Jul 17, 2015 12:01 PM UTC  Close up of mosquito (Aedes japonicus) feeding on human skin Close up of mosquito (Aedes japonicus) feeding on human skinGetty Images by [Sarah Begley](https://time.com/author/sarah-begley/) ## Sarah Begley Jul 17, 2015 12:01 PM UTC Ever wonder why mosquitoes seem drawn to your body like magnets? Scientists now understand [the method](http://www.bbc.com/news/science-environment-33549777) the insects use to find their human prey, and it involves three steps. According to new research published in the journal [Current Biology](http://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S096098221500740X), mosquitoes are attracted by the scent of CO2 — which is found in human breath. The insects can pick up on this trigger from a distance of 10 to 50 meters. Moving in closer, mosquitoes pick up on visual cues to find their target, an idea the researchers tested with a black spot on the floor of a wind tunnel. They can use sight to find humans from 5 to 15 meters. Finally, mosquitoes are attracted by the heat of the human body, which researchers confirmed with a heated glass panel that otherwise blended in with its surroundings. The insects can be drawn to heat from within a meter. While scientists already knew that these three elements contributed to mosquitoes’ homing method, this is the first time they understand how all three parts work together. \[[_BBC_](http://www.bbc.com/news/science-environment-33549777)\] ### See 40 Stunning Images Captured Through A Microscope  Jumping spider eyes at 20x magnification. Noah Fram-Schwartz  A bed bug at 50x magnification. Stefano Barone  A mite in a forest at 10x magnification. José R. Almodóvar  Cultured embryonic chicken dorsal root ganglia neuron explant at 60x magnification. Dr. Michael John Bridge  A crawling bone cancer cell at 8000x magnification. Dr. Dylan T. Burnette  Active fluid flow around P. damicornis at 4x magnification Dr. Douglas Brumley  A Chrysochroa buqueti (jewel beetle) at 45x magnification. Charles Krebs  Focal conic-like domain with varying degrees of modulation and checkerboard patterns at 40x magnification. Dr. Rajdeep Deb  ALeptothorax acervorum (ant) carrying its larva at 5x magnification. Geir Drange  A sagittal brain slice showing cell nuclei at 40x magnification. Dr. Marco Dal Maschio  A mouse brain vasculature at 2x magnification. Dr. Ali Erturk  A Tradescantia zebrina (wandering jew) leaf stomata at 40x magnification. Dr. Jerzy Gubernator  A Tigriopus californicus (copepod) at 10x magnification. Dr. Terue Kihara  A Chrysochroa buqueti (jewel beetle) carapace, near eye at 450x magnification. Charles Krebs  Live zebrafish embryo at 22 hours post-fertilization. Dr. Philipp Keller  A Casuarina equisetifolia (beach oak) twigs at 125x magnification. Anatoly Mikhaltsov  Bovine pulmonary artery endothelial cells. Dr. Muthugapatti K. Kandasamy  A Vespula vulgaris (common wasp) stinger at 5x magnification. Geir Drange  An ant eye at 20x magnification. Noah Fram-Schwartz  Conichalcite pseudomorph after azurite at 6x magnification. Honorio Cócera-La Parra  Pleurosigma angulatum (diatoms) at 100x magnification. Christian Gautier  Lilium anther, second division tetrads at 500x magnification. Raymond Sloss  Montana Dryhead agate at 50x magnification. Douglas L. Moore  Tripolycyanamide crystal at 100x magnification. Yanping Wang  A young starfish at 5x magnification. Steven Wilbert  A Solea sp. (fish) at 25x magnification. David Linstead  Pleurotaenium ovatum (micro algae) at 40x magnification. Rogelio Moreno Gill  A Magnesium chloride and potassium alum mixture at 25x magnification. Chao Zhang  A rhombohedral cleavage in calcite crystal at 10x magnification. Alessandro Da Mommio  Marine algae at 40x magnification. Waldo Nell  A Ceriodaphnia sp. (water flea) at 20x magnification. Rogelio Moreno Gill  A snowflake at 8x magnification. Michael Peres  A Shipworm Lyrodus pedicellatus and a wood-boring mussel at 20x magnification. Andrea Wurzinger-Mayer  Anagallis arvensis (scarlet pimpernel) at 80x magnification. Jens H. Petersen  A flower embryo at 40x magnification. Samuel Silberman  The underside of a Brown dog tick and Lonestar tick at 100x magnification. Dr. Igor Robert Siwanowicz  Living Micrasterias in contrast Interphako at 100 magnification. Frank Fox  Recrystallized bismuth iodide at 100x magnification. Sebastian Blaise Sparenga  A Hydra and Volvox at 10x magnification. Steven Wilbert  Appendages of a common brine shrimp at 100x magnification. Dr. Igor Robert Siwanowicz _Read next:_ [_What’s the World’s Deadliest Creature?_](http://time.com/3935262/whats-the-worlds-deadliest-creature/?iid=time%5Freadnext) [_Download TIME’s mobile app for iOS to have your world explained wherever you go_](https://itunes.apple.com/us/app/time-mobile/id328218429) ```json [{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"NewsArticle","@id":"https://time.com/3962362/mosquitoes-scent-sight-heat/","mainEntityOfPage":{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https://time.com/3962362/mosquitoes-scent-sight-heat/"},"headline":"Why Mosquitoes Will Always Track You Down","datePublished":"2015-07-17T12:01:25.000Z","dateModified":"2026-08-04T07:41:23.642Z","description":"Scientists now understand how scent, sight and heat work together to lead the insects to humans","url":"https://time.com/3962362/mosquitoes-scent-sight-heat/","keywords":["animals","Mosquitoes","Insects"],"thumbnailUrl":"https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/bltecdfb867050a1285/69885b6335ba6f039ac0e3b7/mosquito.jpeg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=1200:675&height=675","author":[{"@type":"Person","name":"Sarah Begley","jobTitle":null,"url":"https://time.com/author/sarah-begley/"}],"articleSection":"Science","image":[{"@type":"ImageObject","url":"https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/bltecdfb867050a1285/69885b6335ba6f039ac0e3b7/mosquito.jpeg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=1200:675&height=675","width":1200,"height":675,"headline":"546996111","caption":"546996111","creditText":"Getty Images","representativeOfPage":true}],"publisher":{"@type":"Organization","name":"Time","url":"https://time.com/","logo":{"@type":"ImageObject","url":"https://time.com/images/logo.png","width":528,"height":156},"foundingDate":"March 3, 1923","sameAs":["https://www.facebook.com/time","https://www.instagram.com/time/?hl=en","https://twitter.com/time","https://www.pinterest.com/timemagazine"]}},{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"BreadcrumbList","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"item":{"@id":"/section/science/","name":"Science"}},{"@type":"ListItem","position":2,"item":{"@id":"/tag/animals/","name":"animals"}},{"@type":"ListItem","position":3,"item":{"@id":"https://time.com/3962362/mosquitoes-scent-sight-heat/","name":"Why Mosquitoes Will Always Track You Down"}}]},{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"VideoObject","name":"Overstepping Boundaries: The Danger of Invasive Species","description":"What are invasive species, and why are they dangerous? 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