"Penelope Periwinkle" wrote:
Have you ever been somewhere and the mosquitoes are just
eating one or two people in your group alive, but they're not
bothering you? I read an article not too long ago that said that
mosquitoes do seem to prefer some people over others. Maybe
you're one of those folks that mosquitoes don't like as much.

Hiya Penelope,

I think it really depends on several things.

When I've work up a really good sweat I tend to get attacked.
There's a different classification between a light sweat and a really
good sweat, though. And there's another classification to add to
my sweats as well. I tend to breat out into a very heavy sweat if
my blood glucose levels drop but I'm not so sure I get attacked
during those times. It's almost like the body produces two different
classes of sweat, where one sweat tends come out as a really stinky
sweat and the other sweat is just a natural reaction to cool the body
down some.

I don't know, but your suggestion got me analyzing some things
about why I sweat.

Perhaps there's a difference in the different types of basil? I've
planted purple, lemon and sweet basil at the same time last year
and its hard to really differentiate which basil provided the benefits.

Other things noted from this book:

The book identifies garlic-based oil as effective in killing mosquito
larva in ponds (as does derris root and tuba).

"The leaves of molasses grass and sassafras are mosquito repellents."
"American pennyroyal (Hedeoma pulegioides) (aka squaw mint) not
to be confused with European pennyroyal (Mentha pulegium) is a
natural insect repellent. A handful rubbed on the skin emits a pleasant
odor and repels mosquitoes and gnats."

There's mention of Shepherd's Purse (Capsella Bursa-pastoris) seed
as well. There seems to be quite a few uses for this plant, whereby it
takes excess salts out of the environment and returns it to a form use-
ful to other plants.

Hope this helps.

Jim Carlock
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