Repelling Bugs With The Essence Of Grapefruit

[brian eiland]

WOW....this could be GREAT news

Safe Enough To Drink
That's why the CDC is pushing hard to develop a completely natural insect repellent made from a chemical called nootkatone, which is found in Alaska yellow cedar trees and citrus fruit.

Dolan says nootkatone "is nongreasy, dries very quickly, and it has a very pleasant, citrus-y grapefruit odor to it."

He recently demonstrated its effectiveness as a mosquito repellent, rubbing some on his hand and then sticking it into a cage containing 50 hungry mosquitoes. When he holds the treated hand near mosquitoes, they try to get away in the opposite direction as fast as they can.

Even after five minutes, Dolan has no bites on his nootkatone-treated hand.

But that's not all — it turns out that nootkatone could be both a repellent and an environmentally friendly pesticide. That's because it doesn't just repel bugs — it kills them.


http://www.npr.org/2011/04/18/135468...-of-grapefruit

[Ad Hoc]

I recall similar "expectations" of Vitamin B12 in the mid 90s, mossies supposed to hate the smell of it...doesn't work for me, and this has seem to faded away.

Also, there was a plant, can't recall the name now...that grows everywhere in China; naturally found everywhere (thought to be a new species) and once scientist knew what to look for found the world over even on the rivers of the Potomac apparently too (the article I read/saw was American, hence the ref to the Potomac). The chemical make up broke the link between the two oxygen molecules from mossies that have malaria; thereby rendering mossies unable to pass on this deadly disease. As the two oxygen molecules could not bond to do whatever it does….memory is fading. This was around late 90s early 00s.

S0, I won’t hold my breath….be nice if it does work though.

[Leo Lazauskas]

Originally Posted by Ad Hoc

S0, I won’t hold my breath….be nice if it does work though.

Holding your breath might work because some bugs are attracted by the CO2

I also saw that doco about the Chinese/USA plant, but I haven't seen anything more.

Another nice-smelling bug repellent I remember from my youth is Citronella oil.

[Poida]

Now, not sure how it is spelt but Pyrethera is a natural insectacide made from plants.

Unfortunately it kills insects by blocking their respitory system, and as insects can last a long time without taking a breath it would keep on flying up to 30 or so minutes before dying.

There is the problem because manufacturers would state that their insecticide killed insects with a product that was extracted from plants and was perfectly safe for humans. Which is true. But they needed to stop the insect from flying or crawling while it died otherwise the consumer didn't think it was working.

So they put a nerve gas in the insectacide to knock the insect out. Nerve gas is not safe for humans and has a accumalative effect. This was not mentioned on the product label.

[Frosty]

There is many different type of bugs with totally different tolerances to many different bug spray.

Ive used diesel to repel mosquitos if I have to.

[Poida]

Jeez Frosty
Mozzies are so big here that at the Perth Airport one landed and they they filled it up with 500 litres of aviation fuel before they realised their mistake.

[brian eiland]

LOL,