Brett (1938) established the presence of color preference in Ae. aegypti by exposing mosquitoes to different colored cloths. Using daylight through a window as the light source, Brett counted the number of Ae. aegypti alighting on cloths stretched over a hand-enclosing box in a three-minute period. Each trial used either black or white as a standard and presented an equal area of the test color and the standard. Although the order of attractiveness for different colors was not the same when compared to black vs. white, the general order which emerged was black (most attractive); red (very attractive); grey and blue (neutral), khaki, green, light khaki, and yellow (less attractive). Howlett (1910) stated that mosquitoes are attracted to black and to dark colors. Gjullin (1947) counted Aedes mosquitoes landing on the back of different shirts worn by one man. The order of attractancy was black, blue, red, tan, green, yellow, and white. Aedes lateralis, a dark mosquito, could be using the dark material as protective coloration, but since Aedes dorsalis, a gray mosquito, is also attracted to black the most, dark colors are most likely attractive to mosquitoes during host-seeking, not as camouflage.
Brett (1938) also measured the reflection factors for the colors used to ensure that mosquitoes were responding to colors and not to the amount of light reflected. He found that brown was significantly more attractive than blue, though both had nearly the same reflection factor. Finally, Brett looked at trichromatic coefficients of the colors (amount of red/green/blue) separately, finding a positive attraction to the red component, negative correlation between the green component (combined with reflection factor) and number of mosquitoes landing, and no significant correlation with the blue component.
misschien de muggen hier, al steken die ook nog door een hemd.
