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ESSENTIAL OILS AS REPELLENTS AND TOXICANTS AGAINST TICKS AND MOSQUITOES
ticks A. americanum and I. scapularis and as repellents and adult and larval
toxicants against the yellow fever mosquito (John F. Carroll1*, 2011, p. 259).
Materials and Methods
In this experiment, the scientists gathered tick larvae and mosquitoes.
The ticks were fed as larvae on rats and the mosquitoes were fed twice
weekly with bovine blood in a pig intestine. Once the ticks and mosquitoes
were at an adult age scientist began experimenting with synthetic insect
repellants like Deet and the essential oils of the plants Cupressus funebris,
Juniperus communis, and J. chinensis. Scientists started by applying the
essential oils and Deet to filter paper, once the filter paper was dry they put
5-10 ticks under the filter paper in a petri dish to test the reaction. This
experiment was tested with each essential oil as well as the Deet. While
testing the mosquitoes, scientists opened a sleeve to the cage and put a
cloth that had human odors to attract them, this was in order to test their
biting patterns. After observing the biting patterns, scientists put a muslin
cloth that had previously been covered in essential oils in the open sleeve
and tested the reactions. They did this experiment with the all the three of
the essential oils as well as the Deet.
Results
All three essential oils acted as a repellent to the ticks. Although the
repellent was working at 6 hours post application, its effectiveness showed a
decline. The oils of C. funebris and J. chinensis did not repel the female
mosquitoes even at the highest dosage. On the other hand, the oil of J.
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ESSENTIAL OILS AS REPELLENTS AND TOXICANTS AGAINST TICKS AND MOSQUITOES
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ESSENTIAL OILS AS REPELLENTS AND TOXICANTS AGAINST TICKS AND MOSQUITOES
Bibliography
Carroll, J. F., Tabanca, N., Kramer, M., Elejalde, N. M., Wedge, D. E., Bernier, U.
R., . . . Zhang, S. (2011). Essential oils of Cupressus funebris, Juniperus
communis, and J. chinensis (Cupressaceae) as repellents against ticks (Acari:
Ixodidae) and mosquitoes (Diptera: Culicidae) and as toxicants against
mosquitoes. Journal of Vector Ecology, 36(2), 258-268. doi:10.1111/j.19487134.2011.00166.x