Individual humans attract different mosquito species

Humans are not equally attractive to mosquitoes, leaving some more vulnerable to mosquito-borne illnesses than others. Body odor differences likely allow mosquitoes to discriminate between humans. Using a uniport olfactometer, we measured the attraction of Aedes aegypti, Aedes albopictus, and Culex quinquefasciatus mosquitoes for each of our 119 participants. Ae. aegypti, but not other species tested, were more attracted to male than female participants. Each of our three species ranked our participants differently, favoring a distinct subset of our cohort. For each species, mosquito attraction rates were used to define high and low attraction human odors and bacterial taxa. For example, Ae. aegypti and Cx. quinquefasciatus attraction was associated with the absence of odors like cyclic alcohols and monoterpenes, while Ae. albopictus attraction was associated with the presence of ketones. Each mosquito species exhibited distinct responses to individual humans, emphasizing both unique and shared cues for targeting their hosts.