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jqdoumen

macrumors newbie
Original poster
Jul 26, 2022
9
9
Been wearing an Apple Watch for several weeks, 24/7, and statistics compel me now to believe it attracts mosquitos. The first ones were slightly itchy and smallish, but today’s is very clearly a bite, right under the watch. Is it reasonable to assume that when the watch is worn slightly loose, mosquitoes get attracted to the light emitted by the sensors and they get to sting right there?
 

3Rock

macrumors 6502a
Aug 25, 2021
733
799
I’ve been wearing my Apple Watch almost 24 hours a day seven days a week for over a year , and I live in Florida where there’s a whole bunch of mosquitoes and not once have I been stung.
 

Howard2k

macrumors 603
Mar 10, 2016
5,715
5,672
A mosquito? Under the watch? Is it April 1st again?

More likely you’re having a reaction to dirt on the watch/wrist, or the watch/strap.

Try cleaning the watch and your wrist every day, and/or a new strap.
 

azhava

macrumors 6502a
Aug 29, 2010
942
1,293
Arizona, USA
Been wearing an Apple Watch for several weeks, 24/7, and statistics compel me now to believe it attracts mosquitos. The first ones were slightly itchy and smallish, but today’s is very clearly a bite, right under the watch. Is it reasonable to assume that when the watch is worn slightly loose, mosquitoes get attracted to the light emitted by the sensors and they get to sting right there?
No.
 

richard371

macrumors 68040
Feb 1, 2008
3,744
1,928
I wear my Ultra to bed and had fleas crawling on me this am. Guess im getting flea drops for the dog today lol. Dont think its an apple watch issue haha.
 

BenGoren

macrumors 6502a
Jun 10, 2021
503
1,427
Uh-oh … bad news. Those aren’t mosquitoes; they’re Venusian soul-suckers. Better hope they’re the ones from the Plains of Taurisian … cuz, if they’re from the Carthagenous Lowlands, you’ll only wish you were dead. At least the ones from the Plains kill you quickly enough — a few months, tops.

(On the off-off chance this isn’t a troll, you’ve got textbook contact dermatitis. Clean the watch and band per Apple’s instructions and apply a very very small bit of general-purpose antibiotic lotion, such as Neosporin, before putting the watch back on.)

b&
 

zachz

macrumors 6502
Jun 18, 2012
272
889
Probably not mosquitos, I can't imagine a mosquito making it without being squished, unless your arm/wrist/hand is totally still for the time the mosquito gets under, does its duty, then leaves.

I've owned and worn an Apple Watch since Series 0 and right under where the watch sits, I do get tiny and itchy red bumps. I believe it is because I wear it fairly tight and sweat, so my pores get clogged and thus tiny bumps appear. If I don't wear my Apple Watch for a few days, the redness and bumps go down.

When I went away for school for a year, I pretty much never wore my Apple Watch and had no itchy bumps at all. All this is totally anecdotal, but for me, there is definitely a correlation between the Apple Watch and my own tiny red bumps lol -- I'm sure this would happen if I wore a cheap watch or a Rolex, too, although I never wore watches until the Apple Watch and will likely never wear a non-Apple Watch so cannot be certain
 
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BigMcGuire

Cancelled
Jan 10, 2012
9,832
14,032
First things first... the light emitted by the sensors is rare unless doing a workout and when I work out I'm usually running/jogging so I don't get bit very often while jogging. Let's look into this... what type of light does Apple Watch use? But first - can mosquitos see infrared?

According to: https://sciencing.com/animals-can-see-infrared-light-6910261.html
"Blood-sucking insects, such as bedbugs and mosquitoes, rely on their infrared vision to feed themselves. They can "see" body heat and use the heat signature of the carbon dioxide (CO2) gas that humans and other animals naturally exhale to locate their prey."

According to: https://support.apple.com/en-us/HT204666
"The optical heart sensor in Apple Watch uses what is known as photoplethysmography. This technology, while difficult to pronounce, is based on a very simple fact: Blood is red because it reflects red light and absorbs green light. Apple Watch uses green LED lights paired with light‑sensitive photodiodes to detect the amount of blood flowing through your wrist at any given moment. When your heart beats, the blood flow in your wrist — and the green light absorption — is greater. Between beats, it’s less. By flashing its LED lights hundreds of times per second, Apple Watch can calculate the number of times the heart beats each minute — your heart rate."

So... the exercise light (green LED) is not infrared.

However, the infrared light (from Apple site above):
"The optical heart sensor can also use infrared light. This mode is what Apple Watch uses when it measures your heart rate in the background, and for heart rate notifications. Apple Watch uses green LED lights to measure your heart rate during workouts and Breathe sessions, and to calculate walking average and Heart Rate Variability (HRV)."


With this information, I conclude that the mode that Apple uses to measure your heart rate in the background would occur so infrequently that your body heat and carbon dioxide that you exhale would be far bigger of a target than a very infrequent background infrared heart rate check.

My other observation is your comment that you got bit UNDER the watch? There isn't a lot of space for a mosquito to fit under the Apple Watch. Most mosquito bites (and I have a blood type that mosquitos prefer) are on open skin like ankles in the summer or back of neck, not in hard to reach areas.
 

zachz

macrumors 6502
Jun 18, 2012
272
889
First things first... the light emitted by the sensors is rare unless doing a workout and when I work out I'm usually running/jogging so I don't get bit very often while jogging. Let's look into this... what type of light does Apple Watch use? But first - can mosquitos see infrared?

According to: https://sciencing.com/animals-can-see-infrared-light-6910261.html
"Blood-sucking insects, such as bedbugs and mosquitoes, rely on their infrared vision to feed themselves. They can "see" body heat and use the heat signature of the carbon dioxide (CO2) gas that humans and other animals naturally exhale to locate their prey."

According to: https://support.apple.com/en-us/HT204666
"The optical heart sensor in Apple Watch uses what is known as photoplethysmography. This technology, while difficult to pronounce, is based on a very simple fact: Blood is red because it reflects red light and absorbs green light. Apple Watch uses green LED lights paired with light‑sensitive photodiodes to detect the amount of blood flowing through your wrist at any given moment. When your heart beats, the blood flow in your wrist — and the green light absorption — is greater. Between beats, it’s less. By flashing its LED lights hundreds of times per second, Apple Watch can calculate the number of times the heart beats each minute — your heart rate."

So... the exercise light (green LED) is not infrared.

However, the infrared light (from Apple site above):
"The optical heart sensor can also use infrared light. This mode is what Apple Watch uses when it measures your heart rate in the background, and for heart rate notifications. Apple Watch uses green LED lights to measure your heart rate during workouts and Breathe sessions, and to calculate walking average and Heart Rate Variability (HRV)."


With this information, I conclude that the mode that Apple uses to measure your heart rate in the background would occur so infrequently that your body heat and carbon dioxide that you exhale would be far bigger of a target than a very infrequent background infrared heart rate check.

My other observation is your comment that you got bit UNDER the watch? There isn't a lot of space for a mosquito to fit under the Apple Watch. Most mosquito bites (and I have a blood type that mosquitos prefer) are on open skin like ankles in the summer or back of neck, not in hard to reach areas.
This was a very interesting read, thanks for doing the research!

Never thought during the whole time the Apple Watch has existed that I would learn a bit about infrared and mosquitos all because of an Apple Watch! Next time I talk about an Apple Watch with my friends I'm going to bring this up 😂
 
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ndouglas

macrumors 6502a
Jun 1, 2022
721
636
LOL, okay, you get the prize for the funniest thread creation in at least …1-2 days…

On a more serious note, mosquito bites are no laughing matter! But to then state “statistics compel me to now believe…” umm, what statistics, pray tell?
 
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Itinj24

Contributor
Nov 8, 2017
4,591
2,632
New York
Well thank goodness we now have an explanation for the battery swelling issue. Mosquito bites all along. Who knew?

Much cheaper if they didn’t miss and got my wrist skin instead.
 

antiprotest

macrumors 601
Apr 19, 2010
4,353
16,038
Are you sure they're bites, and not that your skin has a reaction to the heart monitor?
 
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