The essential oil of catnip, Nepeta cataria L., contains two isomers of nepetalactone, E,Z-and Z,E-nepetalactone, and was tested for repellent activity to adult male German cockroaches, Blattella germanica (L.), in a choice-test arena. The two isomers of nepetalactone were purified by using preparative thin-layer chromatography and tested for behavioral activity in the choice-test arena. Signif...

Infection of Aedes aegypti (L.) (Diptera: Culicidae) with Edhazardia aedis (Microsporidia: Culicosporidae) reduced mean human host attraction and landing/probing rates in female mosquitoes by 53 and 62%, respectively, compared with rates in microsporidia-free females. Infection with E. aedis reduced the average weight of unfed female mosquitoes by 4%, caused them to imbibe 23% less blood, and t...

Reducing the risk of mosquito bites is currently the only way to reduce the risk of West Nile virus infection. Methods for avoiding mosquito bites include limiting the time spent outdoors at dawn and dusk, wearing protective clothing and using an insect repellent. Repellents containing DEET (N,N-diethyl-m-toluamide, also known as N,N-diethyl-3-methylbenzamide) are the most effective and most wi...

In a laboratory olfactometer, 12% of female Aedes aegypti with a marker gene for red eye (re), 0.7% of females with a marker gene for white eye (we), and 54.1% of females with normal (norm) eye color were attracted to odor from a human hand. When a synthetic attractant blend was used in place of the hand, the attraction rate was 7%, 0.3%, and 35.4%, respectively. On average, re females required...

The spatial repellency responses of Aedes aegypti (L.) to deet, dehydrolinalool and linalool were evaluated using a dual port olfactometer. In the absence of human attractant mixture, each of the three chemicals resulted in activation and/or orientation of mosquitoes to the chemical source. Linalool was the most attractive compound. In the presence of human attractant mixture, activation and/or...

The spatial repellency responses of Aedes aegypti (L.) to deet, dehydrolinalool and linalool were evaluated using a dual port olfactometer. In the absence of human attractant mixture, each of the three chemicals resulted in activation and/or orientation of mosquitoes to the chemical source. Linalool was the most attractive compound. In the presence of human attractant mixture, activation and/or...

Optically active (1S,2'S)-2-methylpiperidinyl-3-cyclohexen-1-carboxamide (SS220) is a new synthetic arthropod repellent. A three-step synthesis based on a chiral Diels-Alder reaction and diastereomeric resolution of 2-methylpiperidine was developed to prepare the compound. Quantitative laboratory assays using human volunteers compared the effectiveness of SS220 with the commonly used repellents...

Toxicity of three mosquito oviposition repellents, N,N-diethyl-3-methylbenzamide (AI3-22542 or deet), AI3-35765, and AI3-37220 to 6 aquatic nontarget invertebrates, was evaluated in the laboratory. The 24-h LC50 values for Cypricercus sp. (Ostracoda), Moina sp. (Cladocera), Eucyclops agilis Koch (Copepoda), Strelkovimermis spiculatus Poinar & Camino (Nematoda), Þrstand fourth-instar Toxorhynchi...