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Medical, Urban, and Veterinary Entomology

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Student Competition

Undergrad Poster Competition: MUVE, Forensic, Medical, and Veterinary Entomology and Vector Biology and Management

D3177: Evaluating natural products as repellents and insecticide synergists for Aedes aegypti

Monday, November 11, 2024
9:00 AM – 5:00 PM MST
Location: Phoenix Convention Center, Exhibit Hall 6, PCC
Poster Display Student Competition
Aedes aegypti mosquitoes are vectors of diseases such as yellow fever, dengue virus, chikungunya, and Zika. One way to stop the spread of these serious diseases is to eliminate or deter the mosquitoes that vector them. These mosquitoes can be controlled using insecticides or repellents such as pyrethroids, but resistance has been a growing concern, so it is necessary to develop new formulations that can remain effective. Using natural products like plant essential oils in these formulations may be beneficial, as they represent new chemistries that act in unique ways compared to products already on the market. Moreover, they are generally safer for non-target organisms and may be more appealing to consumers. In this study, five natural plant essential oils were evaluated for their ability to repel and/or knockdown mosquitoes over a one-hour time period when used in conjunction with metofluthrin. Two oils increased metofluthrin’s repellency to 100% at 60 minutes, and three oils increased metofluthrin’s knockdown to over 90% in the same time frame. These data suggest select oils may be useful in repelling, immobilizing mosquitoes, and/or preventing bites and thus the spread of disease, without selecting for resistance in the same way a traditional synthetic insecticide/repellent product would. In the field, some of these oils were also repellent when applied alone (without metofluthrin), further indicating their potential as future pest control technologies.