Journal of Medical Entomology (2012) 49, 1387-1397

U. Obermayr, J. Ruther, U. Bernier, A. Rose and M. Geier (2012)
Laboratory evaluation techniques to investigate the spatial potential of repellents for push and pull mosquito control systems
Journal of Medical Entomology 49 (6), 1387-1397
Abstract: A protocol has been developed for the indoor evaluation of candidate spatial repellents intended for use in push and pull systems. Single treatments (catnip oil, 1-methylpiperazine, and homopiperazine) and a mixture of catnip oil and homopiperazine were tested with yellow-fever mosquitoes (Aedes aegypti) in Y-tube olfactometers to determine 1) if these compounds inhibited mosquito host-seeking at short distances and 2) if results obtained in olfactometer tests can be correlated with a larger scale set-up, that is, a room test. All test materials significantly decreased the ability of mosquitoes to find host odors (from a human finger) by up to 96.7% (2.5% catnip and homopiperazine mix). Similar effects could be observed within a new room test set-up, which involved a repellent dispensing system and an attractive trap (BG-Sentinel). Mosquitoes captured by the BGS trap had to fly through a treatment-containing air curtain created by the dispensing system. Compared with the use of a control (ethanol solvent without candidate repellent), trap catch rates were significantly reduced when 5% catnip, 5% 1-methylpiperazine, and 5% homopiperazine were dispensed. Homopiperazine produced the greatest level of host-seeking inhibition with a 95% reduction in the trap catches. The experimental set-up was modified to test the viability of those technologies in a simple push and pull situation.. The combination of BGS trap and a 10% mix of catnip and homopiperazine helped to reduce human landing rates by up to 44.2% with a volunteer sitting behind the air curtain and the trap running in front of the curtain.
(The abstract is excluded from the Creative Commons licence and has been copied with permission by the publisher.)
Link to article at publishers website
Database assignments for author(s): Ulrich R. Bernier

Research topic(s) for pests/diseases/weeds:
control - general

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Pest and/or beneficial records:

Beneficial	Pest/Disease/Weed	Crop/Product	Country	Quarant.
	Aedes aegypti