Overview

• Participants who reported drinking beer or having sex the previous night were about 1.35 times more attractive to mosquitoes than others.
• Recent showering and applying sunscreen correlated with fewer mosquito landings in the trial.
• Researchers tested roughly 500 volunteers at the Lowlands festival using an arm-in-cage setup that allowed smelling but prevented bites.
• Landings on each arm were video-recorded and compared with a sugar feeder control to quantify mosquito preference.
• Authors caution that the festival setting, participant selection, and behavioral confounds limit causal claims, and the work is still under review.