mosquito repellent

10 Stories

You Can Rid Your Yard of Mosquitoes Without Spraying

The AP offers some tips

(Newser) - Life comes with lots of little annoyances, few of them littler or more annoying than mosquitoes. Although it may seem difficult to avoid mosquitoes, the AP offers some ways to reduce or eliminate them from your yard and garden—without resorting to insecticidal foggers or sprays (which the AP points...

Mosquitoes Do Not Care About Your Citronella Candles

Very few repellants actually repel the biting insect

(Newser) - It isn't just nice when mosquito repellents actually do what they claim to—it's necessary. The biting insects are one of nature's top disease vectors, spreading everything from yellow fever and dengue to Zika and malaria, and a group of scientists recently set out to test which...

Hot Fashion for S. Korea's Olympic Team: Zika-Proof Attire

Training, ceremonial clothing for Rio Games to be 'impregnated' with chemicals

(Newser) - South Korea's Olympic committee on Wednesday unveiled Zika-proof long-sleeved shirts and pants it says will help protect the country's Olympic athletes from the mosquito-borne virus at this year's games in Rio de Janeiro, the AP reports. The sets of clothing will be impregnated with mosquito-repellent chemicals and...

This Herb May Rival DEET in Repelling Mosquitoes

 This Herb May Rival DEET 
 in Repelling Mosquitoes 
in case you missed it

This Herb May Rival DEET in Repelling Mosquitoes

Native Americans used to turn to this sweet-smelling herb

(Newser) - Native North Americans have long used the fragrant herb sweetgrass to ward off biting insects like mosquitoes, and new research shows how the traditional repellent works chemically. About to share their findings with the American Chemical Society, researchers at the US Department of Agriculture, the University of Guelph, and the...

Best Bug Sprays Don't Have DEET: Consumer Reports
Best Bug Sprays Don't Have DEET: Consumer Reports
in case you missed it

Best Bug Sprays Don't Have DEET: Consumer Reports

Instead, look for picaridin, lemon eucalyptus oil on label

(Newser) - Consumer Reports is sharing some happy news just in time for black fly season: For the first time since testing began, safer insect repellants are also the most effective. In a series of tests, the magazine found new products containing chemically synthesized compounds similar to or derived from natural...

Study: Why Mosquitoes Like You More

Study suggests our genes control scents that attract or repel mosquitoes

(Newser) - Mosquito bites aren't just annoying. They can be lethal, especially in certain parts of the world where they spread malaria and Chikungunya. Now a pilot study out of the London School of Hygiene & Tropical Medicine suggests that our genes dictate whether mosquitoes are attracted to us, researchers report...

Newspaper Prints Mosquito-Repellant Edition

Dengue fever is serious threat in Sri Lanka

(Newser) - There's serving your audience, and then there's this: As Sri Lanka marked National Dengue Week in April, its Mawbina newspaper put out editions that were mosquito-repellant—and those editions sold out by 10am, marking a whopping 30% spike in circulation, reports IFLScience . The papers featured pull-out ads soaked...

Your Body Make Its Own Mosquito Repellent
Your Body Makes Its Own Mosquito Repellent
NEW STUDY

Your Body Makes Its Own Mosquito Repellent

Cloaking compounds found on skin could be used to combat bites, disease

(Newser) - Bad news for bug spray is good news for just about everyone else: Scientists have discovered a mosquito repellent that makes humans pretty much invisible to the pesky blood suckers—and your body makes it on its own. When used in larger quantities, some 24 "cloaking compounds" found on...

Itchy? Triple the Mosquitoes Buzz US This Summer

Three years' worth of them hatched in Southeast this year

(Newser) - If the mosquito attacks seem particularly vicious this summer, it's not because the bugs have grown meaner—it's just because there's more of them. Way more of them. Two years of drought in Southeastern states meant many eggs didn't get wet enough to hatch in 2011...

DEET Doesn't Bug Mosquitoes on Second Taste

New study shows mosquitoes get used to repellent over time

(Newser) - The ubiquitous mosquito repellent DEET is indeed extremely effective—at first. A new study finds that the pesky insects are actually able to ignore the chemical over time, reports the BBC . Alarmed by concerns that mosquitoes were developing a resistance to it, British scientists presented some A. aegypti mosquitoes (the...

10 Stories