The overall interest in environmentally safe pest control methods and the rise of insecticide resistance in pest populations have prompted medical and agricultural entomology research on insect repellents in recent years. However, conducting research on repellent is challenging for several reasons: (1) the different repellent phenomena are not well defined; (2) it is difficult to test for and quantify repellent; (3) the physiological mechanisms are poorly known; (4) the field efficacy appears to be highly variable. Here, we identified five different types of repellent: expellency, irritancy, deterrency, odor masking and visual masking, and described behavioral bioassays to differentiate between them. Although these categories are currently defined by their behavioral response to different stimuli, we suggest new definitions based on their mechanism of action. We put forward three main hypotheses on the physiological mechanism: (1) a dose effect that modifies the behavior, (2) a repellent mechanism with specific receptors, or (3) inhibition of the transduction of neural information

Pyrethroid insecticides induce an excito-repellent effect that reduces contact between humans and mosquitoes. Insecticide use is expected to lower the risk of pathogen transmission, particularly when impregnated on long-lasting treated bednets. When applied at low doses, pyrethroids have a toxic effect, however the development of pyrethroid resistance in several mosquito species may jeopardize these beneficial effects. The need to find additional compounds, either to kill disease-carrying mosquitoes or to prevent mosquito contact with humans, therefore arises. In laboratory conditions, the effects (i.e., repellent, irritant and toxic) of 20 plant extracts, mainly essential oils, were assessed on adults of Anopheles gambiae, a primary vector of malaria. Their effects were compared to those of DEET and permethrin, used as positive controls. Most plant extracts had irritant, repellent and/or toxic effects on An. gambiae adults. The most promising extracts, i.e. those combining the three types of effects, were from Cymbopogon winterianus, Cinnamomum zeylanicum and Thymus vulgaris. The irritant, repellent and toxic effects occurred apparently independently of each other, and the behavioural response of adult An. gambiae was significantly influenced by the concentration of the plant extracts. Mechanisms underlying repellency might, therefore, differ from those underlying irritancy and toxicity. The utility of the efficient plant extracts for vector control as an alternative to pyrethroids may thus be envisaged.

BackgroundPyrethroid and organophosphate resistance in the malaria vector Anopheles gambiae has led to the search for not only alternative insecticides, but also repellent chemical compounds. However, little is known about the potential actions of repellents and the cross-resistance risk between insecticide and repellent compounds.MethodsHere we show the action of permethrin, DEET, geraniol, carvacrol, culminaldehyde and cinnamaldehyde against three A. gambiae strains: ‘Kis’ (Kisumu susceptible strain), ‘KdrKis’ (pyrethroid resistant strain) and ‘AcerKis’ (organophosphate resistant strain), the last two differing from the first by a mutation on the kdr and ace1 genes, respectively.ConclusionsResults from the DEET assays show it induced repellency for the resistant KdrKis and AcerKis strains but maintained irritancy for the susceptible strain. More generally, we show resistance genes modify the behavior of An. gambiae, increasing or decreasing the effectiveness of DEET and natural compounds, depending on the mutation. These findings offer a new avenue for research on the target and mechanism of repellent compounds. We discuss these findings in the context of vector control strategies.Electronic supplementary materialThe online version of this article (10.1186/s13071-019-3343-9) contains supplementary material, which is available to authorized users.

This new sustainable strategy for protecting vegetable crops against whiteflies is discussed, in addition to the use of companion plants that could produce such bioactive compounds.

BackgroundLaboratory and field studies showed that repellent, irritant and toxic actions of common public health insecticides reduce human-vector contact and thereby interrupt disease transmission. One of the more effective strategies to reduce disease risk involves the use of long-lasting treated bednets. However, development of insecticide resistance in mosquito populations makes it imperative to find alternatives to these insecticides. Our previous study identified four essential oils as alternatives to pyrethroids: Thymus vulgaris, Cymbopogon winterianus, Cuminum cyminum, Cinnamomum zeylanicum. The objectives of this study were to identify active compounds of these essential oils, to characterize their biological activity, and to examine their potential as a treatment for bednets.MethodsWe evaluated the electrophysiological, behavioural (repellency, irritancy) and toxic effects of the major compounds of these oils against Anopheles gambiae strain ‘Kisumu’.ResultsAldehydes elicited the strongest responses and monoterpenes the weakest responses in electroantennogram (EAG) trials. However, EAG responses did not correlate consistently with results of behavioral assays. In behavioral and toxicity studies, several of the single compounds did exhibit repellency, irritancy or toxicity in An. gambiae; however, the activity of essential oils did not always correlate with activity expected from the major components. On the contrary, the biological activity of essential oils appeared complex, suggesting interactions between individual compounds and the insect under study. Data also indicated that the three effects appeared independent, suggesting that repellency mechanism(s) may differ from mechanisms of irritancy and toxicity.ConclusionsBased on the bioassays reported here, some of the compounds merit consideration as alternative bednet treatments.

Vegetable production in sub-Saharan Africa faces numerous agronomic constraints that will have to be overcome to feed the increasing population and to fight malnutrition. Technology transfer and the adoption of low-tech protected cultivation techniques affordable for smallholders are believed to be able to meet this challenge. Protected cultivation techniques are a set of agricultural practices aimed at artificializing the crop environment through the use of soil covers and/or plant covers to control pests and climatic conditions. Although protected cultivation techniques may increase the yield and quality of vegetable crops and extend their production periods worldwide, the transfer of these techniques in sub-Saharan Africa raises questions about their agronomical performances, their profitability but also their environmental impacts. Are low-tech protected cultivation techniques adapted to the sustainable production of vegetables by smallholders in sub-Saharan Africa? To answer this question, we present an overview of the agronomic, economic, and environmental performances of low-tech protected cultivation techniques in sub-Saharan Africa as reported in the literature. The major conclusions that can be drawn from the review are (1) low-tech protected cultivation techniques are not suitable in all climatic conditions in sub-Saharan Africa and need to be combined with other methods to ensure adequate pest control, (2) the profitability of protected cultivation techniques relies on the capacity to offset increased production costs by higher yields and higher selling prices to be obtained with off-season and/or higher quality products, (3) breaking with existing cropping systems, the lack of technical support and skills, and the limited access to investment funding are major obstacles to the adoption of protected cultivation techniques by smallholders (4) life cycle assessments conducted in northern countries suggested that more efficient use of agricultural inputs would offset the negative impacts of protected cultivation techniques if they are properly managed, but further studies are required to be sure these results can be extrapolated to sub-Saharan Africa context. (Résumé d'auteur

For > 20 yr, Bemisia tabaci Gennadius persists as a begomovirus vector and is a serious problem in tomato production in many parts of the world. In tropical countries, the use of netting to protect horticultural crops has proven to be an effective and sustainable tool against Lepidoptera but not against small insects. This study evaluated the repellent effect of AgroNet 0.9T, a 0.9-mm pore diameter and 40-mesh size netting treated with alphacypermethrin insecticide against B. tabaci. This pyrethroid insecticide is known to have toxic and repellent effects against mosquitoes and has been used for treatment of mosquito nets. Two nontreated netting materials were used as control: AgroNet 0.9NT with 0.9-mm pore diameter and 40-mesh size and AgroNet 0.4NT with 0.4-mm pore diameter and 80-mesh size. The behavior of B. tabaci and its parasitoid Encarsia formosa Gahan as they progressed through the treated netting was studied in the laboratory in choice and no-choice tests. The development of wild B. tabaci population on tomato plants protected by the same nets was followed in two field trials implemented in Njoro, Kenya. Results obtained with the no-choice tests showed a significant reduction of movement on the treated net with 40-mesh (19%) compared with nontreated netting (35 and 46% with 80- and 40-mesh, respectively). The mortality of B. tabaci was significantly higher (two-fold) in the test tube containing only the treated netting compared with the nontreated one. The repellent effect of the treated netting was also demonstrated against E. formosa, but it did not have this toxic effect. Unlike for B. tabaci, the treated and nontreated nets appeared to have a similar repellent effect on E. formosa in the choice test, which suggests a learning behavior of the parasitoid. In both field tests, B. tabaci population was significantly lower on tomato protected by the treated net compared with the same nontreated net. However there was no significant difference in B. tabaci population between the treated 0.9-pore diameter and the nontreated 0.4-pore diameter. We discussed these findings and their implications for the use of repellent netting in integrated pest management in horticulture and more specifically in vegetable production.

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