It’s always the way on a gorgeous summer’s day, isn’t it? You get out the garden furniture, pour a nice cold beverage, put up your feet—and then you hear the unwanted whine of a mosquito ready to bite you into itchy misery…
When it comes to being a mosquito meal, however, some people seem more susceptible than others. Now, researchers from the Radboud University Nijmegen in the Netherlands have discovered one surprising culprit: drinking beer.
The team—led by biophysicist Felix Hol—came to this conclusion after bringing thousands of female Anopheles mosquitoes to the Lowlands music festival in 2023.
Fortunately, the researchers didn’t let the biting bugs loose on the attendees—but instead invited the participants to take part in a special trial conducted in a unique pop-up lab built from connected shipping containers.
“A Taste for the Hedonist”
Approximately 500 festival-goers volunteered for the experiment. First, they filled out a questionnaire about their diet, hygiene and behavior at the event.
Next, to test their attractiveness to the mosquitoes, each volunteer placed their arm inside a specially designed cage containing the insects.
Tiny holes allowed the mosquitoes to smell the person’s arm—but prevented them from actually biting.
A video camera recorded how many mosquitoes landed on the arm compared to a sugar feeder.
The team found that subjects who drank beer were 1.35 times more attractive to mosquitoes than those who abstained.
The study also found that the insects were more likely to target people who had been intimate with a partner the previous night.
In contrast, recent showering and using sunscreen were found to make people less attractive to mosquitoes.
Or, as the researchers put it: “We found that mosquitoes are drawn to those who avoid sunscreen, drink beer and share their bed. They simply have a taste for the hedonists among us!”
Broader Implications and Protection
Mosquitoes are not just a nuisance; they are also a significant public health concern. They can transmit diseases like malaria and dengue fever.
The findings from this study, while conducted in a “loosely controlled setting with a selection bias towards science loving festivalgoers,” nevertheless offer valuable insights into why certain people are more susceptible to bites.
The research also provides simple tips to help people protect themselves, such as applying sunscreen, showering regularly and limiting or avoiding beer consumption when at risk of mosquito exposure.
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Reference
Blanken, S. L., Inklaar, M. R., Wan, Z., Evers, F., Smit, M., Kalyuzhnyy, V., Verhoef, J. M. J., Bekkering, E. T., Schinkel, M., Mulder, S., Andrade, C. M., Gemert, G.-J. van, Gusinac, A., Zeeuwen, P., Ederveen, T. H. A., Bousema, T., & Hol, F. J. H. (2025). Blood, sweat, and beers: Investigating mosquito biting preferences amidst noise and intoxication in a cross-sectional cohort study at a large music festival. bioRxiv. https://doi.org/10.1101/2025.08.21.671470
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