Different Repellents for Aedes aegypti against Blood-Feeding and Oviposition

Abstract

Methyl N,N-dimethyl anthranilate (MDA), ethyl anthranilate (EA) and butyl anthranilate (BA) were previously shown to repel Aedes aegypti mosquitoes from landing on human skin. However, the effect of these compounds on the orientation of flying mosquitoes in a choice situation and their effect on mosquito oviposition are not yet known. Here, we used a modified Y-tube olfactometer to test the effect of these compounds on the orientation of Aedes aegypti flying towards skin odor (human fingers), and we tested their effect on Aedes aegypti oviposition choice in a cage assay. In both behavioral situations we compared the effect to the well-documented repellent N,N-diethyl-meta-toluamide (DEET). MDA, EA, and DEET inhibited Aedes aegypti from flying towards skin odor while BA had no such effect. Conversely, MDA had no effect on oviposition while EA, BA, and DEET deterred oviposition, with the strongest effect observed for BA. Thus, we confirm that EA and DEET are generally repellent, while MDA is repellent only in a host-seeking context, and BA is deterrent only in an oviposition context. These compounds appear of potential use in mosquito control programs.

Geosmin Attracts Aedes aegypti Mosquitoes to Oviposition Sites

“…From this panel, geosmin elicited the greatest response, with a 2-to 20-fold higher response compared to the other odorants ( Figure 3J). Interestingly, odorants that elicited the next greatest responses were p-cresol and hexanoic acid, odorants suggested to be involved in oviposition site choice and blood host selection [23][24][25]. Although this glomerulus showed robust responses to geosmin, as measured by , which is responsive to geosmin; the AL3 glomerulus (blue), responsive to nonanal; and the AM2 glomerulus (magenta), responsive to lilac aldehyde.…”

Rhodnius prolixus smells repellents: Behavioural evidence and test of present and potential compounds inducing repellency in Chagas disease vectors

“…Much attention is nowadays directed towards finding substances that could block or activate olfactory pathways, using as experimental models Drosophila and mosquitoes. Among them, those targeting the IR40a + receptor have been presented as promising solutions (Kain et al, 2013;Afify et al, 2014). This receptor, which is highly conserved across insect species, would play a key role on the effect that DEET and a series of anthranilate compounds have been proposed as repellents acting on vinegar flies and on mosquitoes (Kain et al 2013).…”

Reflexion on Bio-Sourced Mosquito Repellents: Nature, Activity, and Preparation

“…Methyl anthranilate, ethyl anthranilate and methyl N,N-dimethyl anthranilate have shown good repellent properties against A. aegypti. They presented similar activity as DEET in hostseeking experiments and a stronger oviposition deterrence than DEET (Afify et al, 2014). However, the biological action and targeted receptors of these repellents in mosquito are still unclear (Kain et al, 2013;Silbering et al, 2016).…”