What Attracts Mosquitoes To You Is Not How Good You Taste, But How Much You Breathe

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Photo: Mosquitoes responsible for transmitting dengue and Zika
Mosquitoes responsible for transmitting dengue and Zika sit in a petri dish at a Brazilian lab.

It's a question everyone asks during the summer after a camping trip or a night out on the porch: Why do mosquitoes find some people extra delicious?

It turns out the main factor that makes you a choice entree for a mosquito is not how you taste, but how much carbon dioxide you emit. So if you're outside exercising, talking up a storm or just living your life a full-time heavy breather, you become a prime target for a mosquito's bite.

More bad news for Colorado's heavy breathers: Climate change is extending mosquito season, which already runs from late April through late October in the Centennial State.

Colorado's chief entomologist Michael Weissmann buzzed in to Colorado Matters to talk about what attracts mosquitoes and what keeps them away.