Author
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Bernier, Ulrich |
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Submitted to: Meeting Abstract
Publication Type: Abstract Only Publication Acceptance Date: 4/2/2015 Publication Date: N/A Citation: N/A Interpretive Summary: Technical Abstract: Certain chemicals, e.g. linalool and nepetalactone, the primary component of catnip oil, have been reported to repel and inhibit the host-seeking of the Yellow-Fever mosquito, Aedes aegypti (L.). More recently, chemicals have been identified which interfere with CO2 reception in mosquitoes, and these chemicals are being explored as a means of personal protection through hiding hosts from mosquitoes. In our studies, we focus on the discovery of compounds which inhibit the attraction to human odors. These attraction-inhibitors impair the ability of insects to respond to kairomones that they would normally use as cues to locate the host. A triple cage olfactometer was used to assess the attraction-inhibition level of compounds identified initially in human skin emanations. Additional compounds of similar structure were obtained commercially or synthesized to develop a better understanding of the class of chemicals which produce this inhibition effect. These 5-7 membered ring compounds with one or two nitrogens in the ring have been shown to impair host-seeking in female Ae. aegypti, Anopheles albimanus Weidemann, and Phlebtomus papatasi Scopoli. We have compared these chemicals to catnip oil (likely the best natural compound attraction-inhibitor and to N,N-diethyl-3-methylbenzamide (DEET) . Many of these cyclic inhibitors are superior to catnip oil and DEET when studied in the olfactometer. Our most recent studies demonstrate that when caged adult female mosquitoes are exposed to these compounds for 10 minutes, the majority of the exposed females do not attempt to seek and out the hand of a human host when the hand is inserted in the cage. |
