Why do mosquitoes and sandflies bite us?
Mosquitoes and sandflies go through four distinct phases of their lifecycle:
- Egg
- Larva
- Pupa
- Adult
Usually these insects go about their lives, living off sugar meals such as nectar, without giving us blood-filled skin sacks a second thought. And then breeding season comes around.
There comes a time when the lifecycles of these creatures need to be completed, and sugar meals just aren't enough anymore.
This is because female mosquitoes need both protein and iron to produce viable eggs. Can you guess where there is an abundance of these two things... Yes, in our blood!
So, when conditions are right for breeding female mosquitoes go in search of a succulent blood meal.
For this, female mosquitoes need a way to recognise and track down their food source (us). They do this by using their receptors to detect our:
- movement
- heat
- carbon dioxide (CO2) release
- chemicals released in our sweat and breath, including lactic acid.
Being large, relatively mobile beings that produce abundant CO2, it's not hard for these hungry ladies to seek us out. Unlike other mammals we don't have any fur or camouflage abilities to prevent mosquito bites.
We are basically walking, talking mosquito beacons! In fact, female mosquitoes are so sensitive to us that they can sense a human's exhalation from up to 50 metres away!
How does Settlers stop them?
Settlers Original insect repellent is composed of a patented formula which blocks mosquitoes and sandflies sensing us. Everytime you use Settlers, you're essentially casting a spell which wraps you in a mosquito-specific invisibility cloak.
Our natural ingredients work so well because they have a synergistic effect: The bioavailability of each essential oil's insect repellent components are enhanced by one another, which enhances the individual effect of each essential oil. Because of their differing characteristics, the components within Settlers' patented formula also peak at different times. This allows its effectiveness (and beautiful aroma) to continue on, long after the efficacy of other products start to wane.
As we mentioned above, female mosquitoes and sandflies seeking a blood meal rely heavily on detecting various chemicals released by our body. Settlers Original stops them doing this!
Settlers' formula contains metabolites which interact with receptors on the antennae of mosquitoes and other biting insects which effectively blocks their ability to distinguish our presence. As we like to say, Settlers doesn't repel, it makes you disappear. Mosquitoes may hang around for a while, but because we make you invisible to them, they give up and go in search of a feed elsewhere.
As well as containing super actives, Settlers products have an added bonus: we make them from high quality soy wax and premium diffuser base.
The clean, economic burn time of soy wax and low-alcohol diffuser base not only results in longer use times, it allows essential oils to be more effectively dispersed into the air. No impurities, so no inhibition of active ingredients and no release of harmful toxins.
High quality natural ingredients that work better, smell great and last longer. That's our promise!
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