Research reveals why some people are constantly under attack from the bloodsucking insects, while others walk free.
研究揭示了為什麼有些人總是會受到吸血蟲蚊子的襲擊而有些人卻可以平安無事。
For those unfortunate enough to feature highly on the mosquito hit list, summer nights are synonymous with mosquito bites. Yet others hardly ever get bitten. So how do the bloodthirstyinsects select their victims?
對那些很不幸被蚊子列為叮咬對象的人們來說，夏夜就是蚊蟲叮咬的代名詞。而有些人卻從沒被蚊子叮咬過。那麼這些吸血蟲是如何選擇它們的受害對象的呢？
Scientists rubbed petridishes against their stomachs. The mosquito season gives rise to countless speculations about possible solutions to the age-old mystery of mosquito preferences.
科學家們把培養皿自己的腹部進行擦拭。對於關於蚊子喜好的可能性解釋，蚊子的繁殖季節提供了無數的猜想。
The insects』 tastes may seem arbitrary. However, research reveals that when mosquitoes make their choice between potential victims, it all comes down to scent:
昆蟲的口味好像很隨意。然而研究顯示當蚊子要從潛在的受害者中選擇對象時，還是氣味起了決定作用。
Mosquitoes are attracted by carbon dioxide and heat, which everyone gives off. But mosquitoes are also attracted by certain scents.Karl-Martin Vagn Jensen. According to Jensen, it has not yet been established exactly what the scents in question are. But research does indicate that some scents are more attractive to mosquitoes than others.
「蚊子會被每個人都會散發出的二氧化碳和熱量所吸引，但蚊子也會被某些特定的氣味所吸引。」 丹麥阿爾胡斯大學農學部研究的負責人卡爾馬丁-威詹森說。根據他的說法，目前仍沒確定那些會吸引蚊子的氣味到底是哪些。但研究的確指出了有些氣味相比較其它氣味而言更會吸引蚊子。
「All the lab employees rubbed petri dishes against their stomachs. In that way, their scents were deposited on the dishes, which were then put in an enclosure full of mosquitoes,」 he says.
「所有的實驗室人員都把培養皿在他們的腹部輕輕擦了擦。通過這種方式，他們的氣味就存儲在了培養皿裡，然後把培養皿放置在一個蚊子出沒的地方。」
「The mosquitoes repeatedly landed on some of the petri dishes, but didn’t go anywhere near the others. 「
「蚊子會反覆地停留在某些培養皿上，卻不會飛到附近其它的培養皿上。」
Vitamin B does not scare off mosquitoes. The experiment is one of several to squash one of the many myths concerning the unfortunate art of mosquito attraction.
維他命B並不能嚇走蚊子。這個實驗也戳穿了諸多關於吸引蚊子的「倒黴學問」 迷信。