How do tiki torches,citronella candles, spray repellents affect mosquitos from detecting you?
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It’s believed that mosquitoes can smell humans and that’s how they find us. Using bug spray or citronella affects their ability to smell us. If they can’t smell us, they can’t find us, and can’t bite us.
The effectiveness of citronella is questionable by many experts and studies.
Some say it’ll reduce the number of [mosquitos by about 20-40%](https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/8827606/) but others have shown little to no effect.
Citronella is supposed by masking the scents mosquitos use to hunt. If they can’t smell you, they can’t try and find you to bite.
DEET has shown to be [more effective](https://www.science.org/content/article/want-repel-mosquitoes-don-t-use-citronella-candles) in some situations but the exact method is up for debate. [The best answer is petty much “they don’t like how it smells and taste.”](https://www.npr.org/sections/goatsandsoda/2019/04/25/716767256/how-do-mosquitoes-taste-deet-hint-its-not-their-mouthparts) As for why… that’s still being figured out.
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