Advertisement

If you have an ACS member number, please enter it here so we can link this account to your membership. (optional)

ACS values your privacy. By submitting your information, you are gaining access to C&EN and subscribing to our weekly newsletter. We use the information you provide to make your reading experience better, and we will never sell your data to third party members.

ENJOY UNLIMITED ACCES TO C&EN

Biological Chemistry

Repellent Elicits Olfactory Fatigue

Prior exposure to repellent leads to weakened mosquito response upon subsequent exposure

by Mitch Jacoby
February 25, 2013 | A version of this story appeared in Volume 91, Issue 8

[+]Enlarge
Credit: Shutterstock
Some mosquitoes become insensitive to DEET following a prior exposure to the insect repellent.
This is a picture of a mosquito.
Credit: Shutterstock
Some mosquitoes become insensitive to DEET following a prior exposure to the insect repellent.

Decades of experience have established that DEET, or N,N-diethyl-m-toluamide, is highly effective at repelling mosquitoes and other insects. In turns out, however, that shortly after exposure to the substance, some mosquitoes are desensitized to DEET’s repelling effect, according to researchers in England (PLoS One, DOI: 10.1371/journal.pone.0054438). James G. Logan of London School of Hygiene & Tropical Medicine and colleagues evaluated electrophysiologic responses elicited by DEET exposure in Aedes aegypti mosquitoes, a variety known for biting during the day and transmitting dengue fever. The team observed that three hours after a brief exposure to DEET, the mosquitoes were not as deterred by the presence of DEET from approaching human skin, heat, and other attractants. The group determined that the reduced aversion to DEET is nongenetic in origin and correlates with a decrease in sensitivity of odor receptors on mosquitoes’ antennae. The findings, which have implications for effective use of the repellent, suggest that mosquitoes become desensitized to odors in a manner similar to the way humans acclimate to smells, but likely because of a very different mechanism, Logan says.

Article:

This article has been sent to the following recipient:

0 /1 FREE ARTICLES LEFT THIS MONTH Remaining
Chemistry matters. Join us to get the news you need.