Mosquitoes Exposed to DEET Once Are Less Repelled by It a Few Hours Later, Study Claims

http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2013/02/130220184949.htm

by Biology, sciencedaily.com
February 20th 2013

Mosquitoes are able to ignore the smell of the insect repellent DEET within a few hours of being exposed to it, according to research published February 20 in the open access journal PLOS ONE by James Logan, Nina Stanczyk and colleagues from the London School of Hygiene & Tropical Medicine, UK.

Though most insects are strongly repelled by the smell of DEET, previous studies by Logan's research group have shown that some flies and mosquitoes carry a genetic change in their odor receptors that makes them insensitive to this smell. The new results reported in the PLOS ONE study uncover a response in mosquitoes based on short-term changes, not genetic ones.

"Our study shows that the effects of this exposure last up to three hours. We will be doing further research to determine how long the effect lasts," says Logan.

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