5 Reasons Why You’re a Michigan Mosquitoes Magnet

Are you constantly swatting away tiny blood-sucking winged creatures? Tired of itching your skin into oblivion? If you're ready to stop being a bug-blood buffet, then it's time to admit: It's not them, it's you.

Related: Which Michigan Insect Has the Most Painful Sting?

Yes, chances are you are doing something to make yourself irresistible to the Red Cross's tiny competitors. You'd think in today's society a simple "no thank you" would suffice, but if you want to stop being so darn delicious to these DNA diners, here are 5 Things You Can Do to Stop Being a Michigan Mosquito Magnet:

1. Stop Wearing Dark Colors and Reds

When speaking with Best Life Online, Charles van Rees, PhD

Tests on mosquito vision have shown that they are more attracted to darker colors and those more on the red side of the spectrum

I know that a darker shade of blue really makes your eyes pop, but would you rather look good or itch less? Stick with lighter colors and shades. Stay away from red. Those little blood suckers are like tiny bulls, and your skin is the crimson cape.

2. Mosquitos Like Beer, They REALLY Like It

This may be tough, but if you're having a couple of beers on the water or by the bonfire, it's like ringing a dinner bell for little biting buzzers. Best Life Online asked a pest expert, Roger May, Ph.D. and Director of Technical Operations for TruGreen, what it is about beer that mosquitos love:

Fermented beverages cause one's capillaries to expand, sending more blood to the skin's surface and making it heat up, this inherently produces more sweat, carbon dioxide, and lactic acid—all of which mosquitoes are attracted to...

The good doctor recommends switching up your beverage of choice for summer chilling and moving toward a sugar and alcohol-free sipper. Betcha the Doc's a hit at parties.

3. You're Using the Wrong Soap

Best Life sat down with the founder of Pest Control Weekly, A.H. David, and asked the mosquito expert what it is about our shower routines that invite insects to invade our skin:

Mosquitoes have a keen sense of smell and are drawn to floral or fruity scents, which often come from personal care products, when planning to spend time outdoors, opt for fragrance-free products. Using bug spray or a topical insect repellent can help mask these scents

Let's be honest: Bug spray can mask any odor except Axe Body Spray.

4. You're Exercising Outdoors

You're hot and the mosquitos know it! Your jogging is the kind of heat signature these hungry hemoglobin hunters crave. They are attracted to carbon dioxide (which you're expelling at a more rapid rate thanks to your morning jog) and heat sources (you're a sweater aren't you?). If the mosquito was a cartoon wolf you'd be the pig in a straw hut: Dinner.

5. You Keep Going to the Mosquitoes Neighborhoods

The best times to avoid these swarms happens to be the cooler times of the day, as mosquitos are most active at dawn and dusk.

If you really want to stay away from the bloodsuckers, treat them like that crazy ex that was hard to shake: Just don't go anywhere near them, their house, their neighborhood, or their zip code. Stay inside in a bubble wrap burrito. Or you could wear waterproof bug spray when heading into their domain: anywhere near water.

Related: Know Before You Go: The Biting Swarms of Michigan's Upper Peninsula

They lay their unborn, soon-to-be skin-sucking flying buzzer eggs in water, so it makes sense that they attract adult mosquitoes. It doesn't take much water to bring in a wave of these little biters either. A bird feeder or even an over-watered plant could be a condo for any number of these flapping phlebotomists.

Let's face it, if mosquitoes are the worse thing Michigan summers give us, it's worth it. At least you don't have to shovel mosquitoes.