Swatting at mosquitoes might not be pointless after all

Can't stand mosquitoes? Don't stop swatting.

They can actually learn to associate movements like swatting or shivering with human odors, according to a new study. Presumably not eager to go splat, the mosquitoes in the study learned to avoid the smell of a person who posed a threat.

And, yes, mosquitoes have preferences when it comes to meals. Human beings are a favorite, and they even gain preferences for certain individuals (all the better if the person's had a few drinks).

Researchers for the new study exposed the insects to human odors along with shocks and vibrations. Later, mosquitoes flew upwind and had to choose between the smell of a tasty human -- which they previously preferred -- and a control odor.

They chose the control odor up to 24 hours later, indicating they'd learned to avoid signs of danger.

Original image has been replaced. Credit: Mashable

It's not totally clear what makes someone a tempting meal. But if mosquitoes keep attacking you, at least you know swatting at them might help.

“Unfortunately, there is no way of knowing exactly what attracts a mosquito to a particular human — individuals are made up of unique molecular cocktails that include combinations of more than 400 chemicals,” Chloé Lahondère, a researcher from Virginia Tech who worked on the study, said in a statement. "However, we now know that mosquitoes are able to learn odors emitted by their host and avoid those that were more defensive."

The study was published Thursday in the journal Current Biology. Using CRISPR gene editing technology, the researchers also discovered that dopamine was associated with the learning process that caused the insects to avoid dangerous situations.

Mosquitoes are by far the deadliest animal in the world to humans, killing more than 600,000 people a year by spreading diseases such as malaria. Learning what attracts them -- and what drives them away -- could be the key to preventing more deaths in the future.