What is the spicy spider?

The smelly smell of dirty socks can keep people away, but New Zealand scientists find it captivating mosquitoes and spiders.

According to the Tehran Times newspaper, the results obtained by the research team at the University of Canterbury in Christchurch could help to find new ways to eradicate malaria-carrying mosquitoes.

All mosquitoes carrying the deadly malaria parasite are of Anopheles species. Previous research has shown that Anopheles gambiae mosquitoes smell intoxicating humans.

Spider jumping Evarcha culicivora likes human smell.Photo ipernity

A jumping spider called Evarcha culicivora is very fond of Anopheles mosquitoes. Previously, scientists have discovered that this spider is particularly ' favored ' by mosquitoes that suck blood.

' Evarcha culicivora is the only known carnivore that targets mosquitoes that suck blood like its favorite bait ,' said Fiona Crossat of the University of Canterbury.

Crossat said: ' We knew the prey of the Evarcha culicivora spider really liked the smell of humans, so we decided to see if this spider was attracted to the body odor .'

In a laboratory in western Kenya, the team tested these mosquitoes and spiders with a clean sock and a 12-hour socks. All 109 spiders that they experimented with, both male and female, both small and large, liked to spend time in smells of dirty socks.

Crossat commented: ' Maybe some people will be frightened when they know that there are spiders who really love us in this world. In fact, there has never been any spider species that finds such a charming human smell. '

The results of the study are published in the current issue of the journal Bi Biology Letters on February 16.