CLOTHES CALL

HOW what you wear can affect your health. This week: Wearing red could encourage mosquitoes MOSQUITOES are attracted to the carbon dioxide we exhale, and now research by scientists at the University of Washington in the U.S., suggests the insects are more likely to head towards people if they are also wearing red, orange or pink.

‘These are the dominant colours reflected in our skin,’ said Jeff Riffell, a professor of biology and lead author of the study, published in the journal Nature Communications.

‘Interestingly, the mosquitoes were also more attracted to green-blue shades — possibly because both male and female mosquitoes feed on sugar like the nectar from a flower. Many flowers and nectar sources occur on the greenblue wavelength,’ explains Professor Riffell.

He says that, as a result, the best colours to wear to avoid attracting mosquitoes are white or purple.