Mosquitoes Ignore DEET After Repeated Exposure

[EndoftheTrail]

Excerpts from BBC article:

o For many years, it was not clear exactly how the chemical worked, but recent research suggests that insects simply do not like the smell.

Dr Logan explained: "We were able to record the response of the receptors on the antenna to Deet, and what we found was the mosquitoes were no longer as sensitive to the chemical, so they weren't picking it up as well.

[Jake D]

I hardly use bug spray up here in the NE.. smells gross.. tastes worse.. not good for gear etc. a light long sleeve shirt, headnet and light pants go a lot further.

[Max Dilthey]

That's my summer plan. Long sleeves and long pants and sun gloves and a headnet.

My past strategy was "get bitten."

[Link .]

:)

[Hikin’ Jim]

That is very bad news. DEET is the one really effective mosquito repellant out there. Sure, Picaridin works in some regions (worked really well for me in the Sierra), but there are some areas (Costa Rica) where it is reputed not to work well.

HJ
Adventures In Stoving

[Ian]

I've tried Deet in Panama and other areas with little or no success. Backwoods Off works the best for me but is not a UL option. I tried a mosquito patch last year and it worked, rather didn't work as expected; hopefully I won't grow a grapefruit sized tumor on my shoulder.

I didn't realize until I was in Cambodia a couple years ago that there are thousands of mosquito sub species. It was nice to know that the species known to carry malaria were problematic at night but disappeared during the day (and weren't in Phnom Penh or Siem Reap.) Didn't matter because the mosquito which flew around during the day (everywhere) carried Dengue Fever so you had to cover up either way.

I've noticed that I don't react to the mosquito bites on the west coast but do on the east. With all of this rambling, the point I'm trying to make is that it's likely that the different species react to various bug repellents differently.

[Sam Farrington]

They certainly react to different concentrations.
Above 70%, Deet works great – below 40%, not so much
With Picaridin, the little ~5% vials are not effective, but the 15% spray works OK with lower numbers of skeeters. ditto for 30% lemon eucalyptus.
In swarms, it is 100% deet and/or a headnet and clothing coverage.

Don't hike in swarm season anymore, but when I did, stuck a burning mosquito coil and holder to the top of the trekking pole. It actually helped quite a lot – kept me sane.

There was some buzz about catnip oil a few years back, but nothing developed.
Tried everything else – none of it worked at all.

[Travis Leanna]

LOL @ Anna.

Ah, I see what you did there! :)

[EndoftheTrail]

"Ah, I see what you did there! :)"

Haha… I missed that the first time around. Anna, as they say, GREAT minds think alike. :)

[Bill Segraves]

IMO, the BBC article, and especially its lead sentence, are misleading. The new study shows what happens on the time scale of hours due to a change in the responsiveness of the olfactory neurons. It's not going to be heritable.

No evidence is presented that mosquitoes in the wild are becoming resistant to DEET. (Though they will probably will, eventually.)

If anyone reads the PLOS publication (freely available online) differently, let's break it down.

Best,

Bill S.

[Gary Dunckel]

Our beloved Link O'Leary rides again!

[Michael B]

I have never seen an indication of this in the real world, including camping and canoeing and living in the north woods for now 25 or 30 years, at times dealing with intense mosquitos. I don't like deet, and use it as little possible, but it does work to reduce how many bites you get, and how badly you are swarmed.

[Link .]

Ben,I thought it was funny also we posted the same link at almost the same time in different posts:) And Hi Gary,Thank You.

[Daniel Paladino]

I had luck with the Lemon Eucalyptus repellent in the Peruvian and Bolivian Amazon… My brother brought "Jungle Juice" and wound up with a melted Katadyn water filter.

[Author]

Posts