The studies behind the numbersThe studies behind every number on this site

Merck Veterinary Manual

The Merck Veterinary Manual's reference on essential-oil poisoning in animals, explaining how pets are exposed (skin contact, grooming, inhalation) and why cats are the most vulnerable species.

Baltzegar JF, Butler CD, Ding JY, Beeson CM, Reed EMX, Reiskind MH, Burford Reiskind MO · 2026 · Parasites & Vectors (2026), DOI 10.1186/s13071-026-07519-6

Longitudinal field-genetic surveillance study tracking how quickly pyrethroid knockdown-resistance (kdr) spread through a suburban Aedes albopictus (Asian tiger mosquito) population. Researchers genotyped 2,669 mosquitoes trapped across Wake County, North Carolina from 2016 to 2024, using an allele-specific PCR melt-curve assay for the F1534S sodium-channel mutation and a Wright-Fisher approximate Bayesian model to estimate the strength of selection. This is a resistance-monitoring study, not a repellent efficacy trial, so it carries no protection-time measurement.

Ochola JB, Mudalungu CM, Mokaya HO, Cheseto X, Onsomu GN, Sevgan S, Kelemu S, Torto B, Tanga CM, et al. · 2026 · Scientific Reports 16:7662 (2026), DOI 10.1038/s41598-026-38831-x

Laboratory arm-in-cage study testing whether oils rendered from edible insects (desert locust, nsenene cricket, and termite) can work as fixatives that slow the evaporation of plant essential oils and so extend their repellency. Three plant oils (citronella, African camphor basil, and lemon eucalyptus) were blended with the insect oils and applied to the forearms of eight volunteers, with complete protection time measured against three mosquito species and skin volatiles tracked by GC-MS.

Sutthanont N, Leanpolchareanchai J, Sriwichai P, Ruangsittichai J, Phanpoowong T, Sumruayphol S, Phanitchat T, Sakai T, Eshita Y, Srisawat R · 2026 · Scientific Reports (2026), DOI 10.1038/s41598-026-61769-z

Laboratory efficacy and short-term skin-tolerability study of a ready-to-use topical spray (MosShield) containing 6% w/w Litsea cubeba essential oil, the citral-rich oil pressed from may chang fruit. Repellency was measured with the WHO arm-in-cage complete-protection-time protocol against three medically important mosquito species, and dermal tolerability was checked with a human skin-patch test in 48 healthy volunteers.

Lazzari CR, De Luca D, Nally A, Dufour C, Vinauger C · 2026 · Journal of Experimental Biology 229(10):jeb251935

A behavior study showing that Aedes aegypti mosquitoes can learn to stop avoiding DEET, and even treat it as attractive, after its smell is repeatedly paired with a reward. It is a mechanism study, not a field test, but it hints at how DEET might fail if used carelessly.

Batume C, Ssegujja I, Kongai G, Ayebare B, Ludlow RA, Fuchs LK, Logose SM, Ssebaale J, Randerson P, Mukisa IM, Pickett JA, Scofield S · 2026 · Scientific Reports 16

A field test of whether a lotion made from locally grown catnip could repel mosquitoes as well as commercial DEET in rural Eastern Uganda. Catnip oil (over 92% nepetalactone, distilled from plants grown in the Budaka district) was formulated at 2% and 6% and compared against a 15% DEET product and a catnip-free control, with an eye toward an affordable, locally produced alternative in a malaria-endemic area.

Chen M, Yan R, Xu Z, et al. · 2025 · International Journal of Tropical Insect Science 45:383-397

Laboratory fumigation and impregnated-paper bioassays of meperfluthrin against Aedes.

Maasayi MS, et al. · 2025 · PLOS ONE 20:e0320624

Semi-field system evaluation of the BiteBarrier transfluthrin emanator across five mosquito species.

Clifton, M.E., Lopez, K. · 2025 · Tropical Medicine and Infectious Disease 10(4):87

Systematic review and meta-analysis of methoprene and pyriproxyfen emergence inhibition across vector mosquitoes.

Denz A, et al. (Liverpool School of Tropical Medicine) · 2025 · eBioMedicine (2025), 119:105891, PMC12789705

This is the most rigorous look at the whole category to date: a systematic review and meta-analysis that pooled data from 58 eligible publications on volatile pyrethroid spatial repellents, the airborne-emanator products built on actives such as transfluthrin, metofluthrin, and allethrin. For 50 of those studies the authors combined individual mosquito-level records, more than 1.7 million mosquitoes in total, along with satellite weather data on temperature, humidity, and wind, so they could estimate an overall protective efficacy and see how it shifts by product format, active ingredient, mosquito species, and indoor versus outdoor setting. This is the single best study for setting honest expectations about what these devices deliver on average.

Lopez AD, Whyms S, Luker HA, Galvan CJ, Holguin FO, Hansen IA · 2025 · Insects 16(1):51

This lab study mapped how geraniol's mosquito repellency changes with dose, following the same group's earlier finding that a handful of botanicals cleared an hour of protection at 10%. The question was practical: how much geraniol do you actually need, and does protection build gradually or switch on at a threshold?

Abudu M, Asafu-Adjaye A, Osei JHN, et al. · 2025 · Parasites & Vectors 18:398

A 2025 field trial in two rural Ghanaian communities pitted a 20% IR3535 lotion built on a sustained-release technology against a 25% DEET lotion, tested on wild, mostly malaria-vector mosquitoes. Both slashed biting against a control, with IR3535 marginally ahead.

U.S. Environmental Protection Agency · 2024 · US EPA, Mosquito Control

EPA authoritative overview of the synthetic pyrethroids used as mosquito adulticides.

U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention · 2024 · CDC Division of Vector-Borne Diseases

CDC public-health guidance on larvicides.

Agumba S, Moshi V, Muchoki M, et al. · 2024 · Parasites & Vectors (2024), PMC10768102

This study, run in experimental huts and open field settings in Siaya County in western Kenya, tested a metofluthrin emanator against Anopheles funestus, a major malaria mosquito. What makes it especially useful is that this local mosquito population is pyrethroid-resistant, meaning it has evolved to shrug off the pyrethroid insecticides used on bed nets and in sprays. The researchers wanted to know whether an airborne metofluthrin device could still protect people even when the mosquitoes are resistant to that chemical class, measuring how many mosquitoes landed indoors and at increasing distances outdoors.

Batume C, Mulongo IM, Ludlow R, Ssebaale J, Randerson P, Pickett JA, Mukisa IM, Scofield S · 2024 · Scientific Reports 14

A lab test of catnip oil, rich in nepetalactone, as an Aedes aegypti repellent using a Y-tube choice test between a treated and untreated hand. Even a 2% dilution repelled most mosquitoes, and a 2% lotion held up for around four hours.

Le Mauff A, Norris EJ, Li AY, Swale DR · 2024 · Parasites & Vectors 17:202

A screen of natural and synthetic molecules for repelling lone star tick nymphs, run across three bioassay formats to see how much the test method changes the ranking. Its standout was a synthetic, chrysanthemic acid, far more potent than DEET, alongside a panel of essential oils.

Eisen L (CDC) · 2024 · Emerging Infectious Diseases 30(1)

A CDC review in Emerging Infectious Diseases asking whether the unregulated minimum-risk botanical products sold to kill and repel ticks actually work, against EPA-registered products. Its verdict: efficacy is wide-ranging, often poor, and unpredictable, and real skin-repellency data for them barely existed.

Burtis JC, Ford SL, Parise CM, Eisen RJ, Eisen L (CDC) · 2024 · Parasites & Vectors

This study filled the exact gap the CDC review flagged: it measured, on human skin, how well eleven unregulated botanical tick repellents keep blacklegged-tick nymphs off, against DEET, across 6.5 hours.

Swai JK, et al. · 2023 · Malaria Journal 22:249

Experimental-hut trial of a transfluthrin spatial repellent sheet against pyrethroid-resistant Anopheles.

Luker HA, Salas KR, Esmaeili D, Holguin FO, Bendzus-Mendoza H, Hansen IA · 2023 · Scientific Reports 13:1705

A New Mexico State University lab put 20 minimum-risk repellent ingredients through the same test at the same 10% strength, so the oils could be compared head to head instead of across studies that each used different doses and methods. The point was a like-for-like ranking of how long each one keeps Aedes aegypti mosquitoes and blacklegged ticks off skin.

Gabaldón-Figueira JC, Wagah MG, Maia MF, et al. · 2023 · Cochrane Database of Systematic Reviews 2023, Art. No. CD015422

A Cochrane team pooled the trial evidence on whether skin-applied repellents actually cut malaria, not just bites. The question matters because bed nets and indoor spraying miss the outdoor, early-evening biting that a repellent could cover. They gathered eight randomized trials with more than 60,000 people, mostly in lower-transmission parts of Southeast Asia and South America.

Azratul-Hizayu T, Chen CD, Lau KW, Low VL, et al. · 2022 · Parasitology International 86:102483

Mat-vaporizer knockdown assays of prallethrin against field Aedes albopictus.

Case report · 2022 · BMC Pediatrics 22:38

Single pediatric case report of accidental ingestion of a meperfluthrin liquid.

Zarella O, Ekwomadu U, Romer Y, et al. · 2022 · PLOS ONE 17(5):e0267278

Field evaluation of a metofluthrin passive emanator at varying distances indoors and outdoors.

Devine GJ, Vazquez-Prokopec GM, Bibiano-Marin W, et al. · 2021 · PLOS Neglected Tropical Diseases 15(1):e0009036

Randomized field trial of passive metofluthrin emanators in 100 treated versus 100 control houses in Mexico.

Innovative Vector Control Consortium (IVCC) · 2020 · Innovative Vector Control Consortium (IVCC), commissioned expert review, August 2020

This is a commissioned expert review, not a single experiment, that pulled together the published evidence on spatial repellents. Spatial repellents are the family of products that put a volatile insecticide into the air around you rather than on your skin, which is the category that includes battery or heat-powered emanators such as Thermacell and the OFF! Clip-On, passive strips, and the older mosquito coil. The review walks through how these devices work, which airborne active ingredients drive them, and what protection they have delivered in controlled and semi-field testing, with the goal of judging whether the category is promising enough for public-health investment.

Mitchell C, Dyer M, Lin F-C, Bowman N, Mather T, Meshnick S · 2020 · Journal of Medical Entomology 57(5):1532-1538

A randomized, placebo-controlled, double-blinded trial testing whether factory permethrin-treated work clothing actually cuts tick bites for people exposed on the job: outdoor workers in Rhode Island and southern Massachusetts, a high-Lyme region. One group wore treated clothing, the other identical untreated clothing, and neither the workers nor the researchers knew which was which.

Stoops CA, Qualls WA, Nguyen TT, Richards SL · 2019 · Environmental Health Insights (2019), DOI 10.1177/1178630219859004

This review gathered decades of studies, spanning 1944 to 2018, on insecticide barrier treatments, the residual sprays applied to vegetation and structures around a property to control mosquitoes. Rather than run a new experiment, the authors synthesized what the accumulated evidence says about how well these treatments work, how long they last, and how performance differs between active ingredients. For a buyer thinking about a yard-spray program, the most useful question it addresses is how many weeks of protection one treatment realistically buys.

ARCTEC (London) for Citrefine International · 2019 · ClinicalTrials.gov NCT03708120 (sponsor-reported; not peer-reviewed)

A sponsor-run trial (registered as NCT03708120) measuring how long a consumer 30% Citriodiol spray, the refined oil-of-lemon-eucalyptus active, protects skin against three tick species. It is the only skin complete-protection-time tick study for OLE, but its results were never independently published.

Chen CD, Chin AC, Lau KW, Low VL, Lee HL, et al. · 2018 · Journal of Medical Entomology 55(6):1651-1655

Glass-chamber coil bioassays of prallethrin and other actives against field Aedes albopictus.

Bibbs CS, et al. · 2018 · Pest Management Science 74(12):2699-2706

Laboratory vapor-toxicity ranking of five volatile pyrethroids against four mosquito species.

Gray L, et al. · 2018 · Scientific Reports 8(1):12535

Semi-field test of consumer pyrethroid aerosols against resistant and susceptible Aedes aegypti.

Uragayala, S., Kamaraju, R., Tiwari, S., Ghosh, S.K., Valecha, N. · 2018 · Indian Journal of Medical Research

Field efficacy and duration trial of a Bti biolarvicide across three mosquito genera.

Hogarh JN, Agyekum TP, Bempah CK, et al. · 2018 · Malaria Journal (2018), PMC6048806

The mosquito coil is the oldest and cheapest airborne repellent device, a spiral you light so that it smolders and releases a pyrethroid such as allethrin or pyrethrins into the air. This review weighed both sides of the coil: how much it actually protects against mosquitoes, and what the smoke does to the people breathing it. It is a helpful reality check for anyone reaching for coils as a low-cost area repellent, because it puts modest efficacy next to a real air-quality cost.

Colucci B, Müller P · 2018 · Scientific Reports 8:12578

An open-access study asking a methodological question: how well do laboratory arm-in-cage tests predict real-world field protection? It tested identical 15% PMD and 15% DEET solutions on the same volunteers in both settings.

Manda P, Abouna AD, Adepo AJB, Dano DS · 2017 · MOJ Toxicology 3(7):167-170

Acute mammalian toxicity study of a meperfluthrin-based mosquito coil.

Rinkevich FD, Margotta JW, Pokhrel V, et al. · 2017 · Bulletin of Entomological Research 107(6):724-733

Field measurement of honey bee mortality from ULV pyrethroid adulticides at varying distances.

Ponlawat A, et al. · 2017 · Journal of the American Mosquito Control Association 33(2):116-127

Field comparison of thermal fog and ULV pyrethrin space spray against Aedes aegypti.

Pruszynski, C.A., Hribar, L.J., Mickle, R., Leal, A.L. · 2017 · PLOS ONE 12(2):e0170079

Area-wide Bti (VectoBac WG) field program against Aedes aegypti in the Florida Keys.

Lawler, S.P. · 2017 · Ecotoxicology and Environmental Safety 139:335-343

Peer-reviewed non-target safety review of Bti and methoprene.

Rodriguez SD, Drake LL, Price DP, Hammond JI, Hansen IA · 2017 · Journal of Insect Science (2017), 17(1):24

This study put a range of wearable and gadget-style mosquito repellents to a head-to-head test against the yellow fever mosquito, Aedes aegypti, an aggressive daytime biter that spreads dengue and Zika. The products included a sound-based wearable, a repellent wristband, and other passive devices, tested alongside a metofluthrin clip-on emanator and skin-applied repellents. The researchers measured how strongly mosquitoes were still drawn toward a person using each product, which is a direct way to ask whether the device actually keeps mosquitoes off you.

Rodriguez SD, Chung H-N, Gonzales KK, et al. · 2017 · Journal of Insect Science 17(1):46

Prompted by the Zika outbreak, this study compared eleven products, five sprays, five wearable devices, and a candle, for how well they reduced Aedes aegypti drawn to a person in a wind tunnel. The wearables mostly failed.

Kulma M, Bubová T, Kopecký O, Rettich F · 2017 · Scientia Agriculturae Bohemica 48(2):76-81

A Czech lab bioassay comparing lavender, eucalyptus, and orange oils, all at 10%, against castor-bean ticks, with 10% DEET as a stable benchmark. All three faded fast, but lavender was clearly the best of them.

Fulcher A, Farooq M, Richardson AG, et al. · 2016 · Journal of the American Mosquito Control Association 32(1):44-50

Controlled trials of three consumer handheld thermal foggers (including Black Flag and Burgess) with pyrethroid insecticide.

Hogarh JN, Antwi-Agyei P, Obiri-Danso K · 2016 · Malaria Journal 15:61

Cross-sectional survey of coil users and self-reported respiratory health.

U.S. Federal Trade Commission · 2016 · U.S. Federal Trade Commission, press release, May 2016 (with earlier related actions)

This entry is a regulatory action rather than a scientific study, included because it is an authoritative check on the gadget-repellent market. The U.S. Federal Trade Commission polices advertising claims and requires that pest-control claims be backed by competent and reliable scientific evidence. When marketers of wearable and electronic mosquito repellers could not support their claims, the FTC stepped in, which tells a buyer that these are not fringe complaints but findings by a federal regulator.

Bibbs CS, Xue RD · 2016 · Journal of Medical Entomology (2016), 53(2):480

This was a controlled laboratory study, not a backyard trial, designed to map exactly how far the OFF! Clip-On's metofluthrin actually reaches. The researchers exposed caged Aedes aegypti mosquitoes, the yellow fever and dengue vector, at set distances from the running device and at different time intervals, then recorded knockdown and death. The point was to test the intuitive question every buyer has: does one of these clip-on emanators really protect a whole area around you, or only the air right next to it?

Sluydts V, Durnez L, Heng S, et al. · 2016 · The Lancet Infectious Diseases 16(10):1169-1177

A large cluster-randomized trial in rural Cambodia testing whether adding a mass-distributed picaridin repellent on top of insecticidal bed nets would cut malaria further. It did not.

Büchel K, Bendin J, Gharbi A, Rahlenbeck S, Dautel H · 2015 · Ticks and Tick-borne Diseases

A human-skin study testing whether two lower-strength alternatives, 10% picaridin (icaridin) and 10% IR3535 (EBAAP), can match 20% DEET at repelling the two most important Ixodes tick species. Picaridin came out on top.

Rodriguez SD, Drake LL, Price DP, Hammond JI, Hansen IA · 2015 · Journal of Insect Science 15(1):140

A lab comparison of eight over-the-counter repellents, two fragrances, and a vitamin B1 skin patch, measuring how much each reduced mosquito attraction to a treated hand. DEET and lemon eucalyptus lasted; most botanicals and the patch did little.

U.S. Environmental Protection Agency, Office of Pesticide Programs · 2014 · US EPA Human Health Risk Assessment (R086823)

EPA human-health risk assessment for prallethrin as a registered household insecticide.

Dame DA, Meisch MV, Lewis CN, Kline DL, Clark GG · 2014 · Journal of the American Mosquito Control Association

Field comparison of four spatial repellent devices, including the OFF! Clip-On and Thermacell, using surrogate-human trap sites.

2014 · Journal of the American Veterinary Medical Association

A retrospective review of ten years of ASPCA poison-control records on concentrated (100%) tea tree oil exposures in dogs and cats, looking at how they happened, what signs followed, and who got sickest.

Eller FJ, Vander Meer RK, Behle RW, Flor-Weiler LB, Palmquist DE · 2014 · Environmental Entomology 43(3):762-766

A pest-control screen of cedarwood oil (from eastern redcedar) as an ant repellent and its component cedrol as a tick toxicant. It did not test mosquitoes or human skin at all, so its relevance to a skin repellent is indirect.

Bissinger BW, Apperson CS, Watson DW, Arellano C, Sonenshine DE, Roe RM · 2014 · Experimental and Applied Acarology 62(1):105–113

The tick companion to the TT-4302 mosquito study, testing the same 5% geraniol repellent against four tick species versus 15% DEET in laboratory choice tests.

Bissinger BW, Schmidt JP, Owens JJ, Mitchell SM, Kennedy MK · 2014 · Journal of Medical Entomology 51(2):392–399

A test of TT-4302, a 5% geraniol formulation, against mosquitoes in the lab and field, benchmarked against 16 commercial repellents and 15% DEET. The headline is that this geraniol product outlasted everything else tested, though the DEET comparator was a low 15%.

Al-Sarar AS, Al-Shahrani D, Hussein HI, Bayoumi AE, Abobakr Y · 2013 · Neotropical Entomology 43(1):85-89

Semi-field comparison of cold versus thermal fogging against caged Culex.

Ogoma SB, Moore SJ, Maia MF · 2012 · Parasites & Vectors 5:287

Systematic review of the spatial repellency of mosquito coils and passive emanators.

Xue RD, Qualls WA, Smith ML, Gaines MK, Weaver JH, Debboun M · 2012 · Journal of Medical Entomology 49(3):652-655

Human-subject field trial of the OFF! Clip-On metofluthrin emanator at two Florida sites.

Xue RD, Qualls WA, Smith ML, Gaines MK, Weaver JH, Debboun M · 2012 · Journal of Medical Entomology (2012), 49(3):652

This trial tested the OFF! Clip-On, a small battery-powered fan device that blows air across a metofluthrin-treated pad to build a repellent cloud around the wearer, in outdoor conditions in northeastern Florida. The researchers wanted to know how well a wearable emanator actually protects a person from bites in the field, so they compared biting rates on volunteers using the running device against unprotected controls. They looked at two mosquitoes: Aedes albopictus, the Asian tiger mosquito that is a common backyard biter, and Aedes taeniorhynchus, an aggressive coastal saltmarsh mosquito.

Marcombe S, Darriet F, Tolosa M, et al. · 2011 · PLOS Neglected Tropical Diseases 5(6):e1202

Field study of how pyrethroid resistance undermines space-spray adulticiding.

Maia MF, Moore SJ · 2011 · Malaria Journal 10(Suppl 1):S11

Review of plant-based repellent efficacy, development, and testing.

Carroll JF, Tabanca N, Kramer M, Elejalde NM, Wedge DE, Bernier UR, et al. · 2011 · Journal of Vector Ecology 36(2):258-268

A lab study of three cypress-family oils (juniper and cypress) for repelling ticks and Aedes aegypti and for toxicity to mosquito larvae. Juniperus communis oil stood out, roughly matching DEET on a dose basis against ticks in the assay.

Kongkaew C, Sakunrag I, Chaiyakunapruk N, Tawatsin A · 2011 · Tropical Medicine & International Health 16(7):802-810

A systematic review asking how well citronella actually prevents mosquito bites, pulling together every controlled laboratory experiment that pitted a citronella preparation against a control. Eleven studies qualified, covering citronella oil alone and citronella combined with vanillin as a fixative, all benchmarked against DEET.

Carroll JF, Benante JP, Kramer M, Lohmeyer KH, Lawrence K · 2010 · Journal of Medical Entomology

A skin-band study of how well five repellent formulations stop lone star tick nymphs from crossing treated skin, retested every two hours out to 12 hours. Any product with at least 20% active held up all day; a 10% IR3535 lotion did not.

World Health Organization · 2009 · WHO Guidelines for Drinking-water Quality

WHO human and non-target safety review of Bti, including use in drinking-water containers.

Bissinger BW, Apperson CS, Sonenshine DE, Watson DW, Roe RM · 2009 · Experimental and Applied Acarology 48(3):239-250

An early efficacy study of BioUD, a repellent whose active ingredient is 2-undecanone (a compound originally from wild tomato plants), tested against DEET for keeping ticks away. It pitted BioUD at its commercial 7.75% strength against DEET at 98% across three hard-tick species, including the blacklegged tick that spreads Lyme.

Khallaayoune K, Biron JM, Chaoui A, Duvallet G · 2009 · Parasite 16(3):223–226

A field trial testing whether a 1% geraniol spray cuts natural tick infestation on grazing cattle, run on two farms near Rabat, Morocco. It is a livestock study, not a human skin test, but it shows geraniol has real, if fading, tick activity.

Muller GC, Junnila A, Kravchenko VD, Revay EE, Butler J, Schlein Y · 2009 · Journal of Vector Ecology 34(1):2-8

Field trial of geraniol, linalool, and citronella as diffusers and candles against wild mosquitoes.

Uzzan B, et al. · 2009 · Fundamental & Clinical Pharmacology 23(5):589-594

A double-blind field trial in two Senegalese villages, run at peak biting season, testing four real repellents against a look-alike placebo lotion under heavy wild-mosquito pressure: 20% picaridin, 20% and 50% PMD (the lemon-eucalyptus active), and 50% DEET. Volunteers applied a product to one bare lower leg and caught every mosquito that landed over an evening.

Muller GC, Junnila A, Kravchenko VD, Revay EE, Butler J, Orlova OB, Weiss RW, Schlein Y · 2008 · Journal of the American Mosquito Control Association 24(1):154-160

Field trial of essential oil candles against biting insects at varying distances.

Witting-Bissinger BE, Stumpf CF, Donohue KV, Apperson CS, Roe RM · 2008 · Journal of Medical Entomology 45(5):891-898

An NC State study introducing BioUD, whose active 2-undecanone comes from wild tomato, arguing that at 7.75% it matches or beats DEET against mosquitoes and ticks despite carrying far less active. It spans lab cage assays, tick choice tests, and human field trials.

Enayati AA, Hemingway J, Garner P · 2007 · Cochrane Database of Systematic Reviews (2007), Issue 2, Art. No. CD005434

This is the most authoritative look at electronic mosquito repellers, the plug-in and battery devices that emit a high-frequency sound meant to keep mosquitoes away. Rather than run a single experiment, the Cochrane reviewers gathered every field study they could find that measured whether these ultrasonic devices actually stop mosquitoes from landing on and biting people, and pooled what those studies showed. The category rests on the idea that a sound can drive off biting mosquitoes, and this review set out to test that idea against the accumulated field evidence.

Lacey LA · 2007 · Journal of the American Mosquito Control Association, 23(2 Suppl):133-163

A review of the two bacterial larvicides most used against mosquitoes, focused on Bacillus thuringiensis subspecies israelensis (Bti). It covers how Bti works, how well it kills larvae in the field, how long it lasts in water, and its effect on other wildlife, drawing on decades of laboratory studies and operational mosquito-control programs. This is a review of source-control larvicides that kill larvae in water, not a study of personal repellents that stop bites on skin.

Trout RT, Brown GC, Potter MF, Hubbard JL · 2007 · Journal of Medical Entomology (2007), 44(3):470, PMID 17547233

Barrier sprays are the other main way people treat an area rather than their skin: a pest-control operator sprays a residual pyrethroid onto the shrubs, low vegetation, and shaded resting spots around a yard, so mosquitoes that rest there pick up a lethal dose. This suburban field study tested two of these pyrethroids, lambda-cyhalothrin and bifenthrin, on real residential properties and measured how much they cut human biting compared with untreated control yards. It is directly relevant to anyone weighing a professional yard-spray service.

Butler, M., Lebrun, R.A., Ginsberg, H.S., Gettman, A.D. · 2006 · Journal of the American Mosquito Control Association 22(2):333-338

Field trial of slow-release methoprene pellets in storm water catch basins.

Carroll SP, Loye J · 2006 · Journal of the American Mosquito Control Association 22(3):507-514

Carroll and Loye's case that PMD, the refined lemon-eucalyptus active, performs like DEET and deserved its 2005 CDC endorsement. It combines a review of PMD across mosquito genera with the authors' own field and lab trials.

Trongtokit Y, Rongsriyam Y, Komalamisra N, Apiwathnasorn C · 2005 · Phytotherapy Research 19(4):303-309

A large laboratory screen ranking 38 essential oils by how well they stop Aedes aegypti biting treated human skin. It is one of the most-cited head-to-head botanical comparisons, and its main lesson is that most oils lose nearly all their repellency once diluted.

World Health Organization · 2004 · WHO/FAO pesticide specification and evaluation report

WHO specification and evaluation of prallethrin for public-health use.

Lawrance CE, Croft AM · 2004 · Journal of Travel Medicine 11(2):92-96

Systematic review of whether mosquito coils reduce bites and prevent malaria.

Costantini C, Badolo A, Ilboudo-Sanogo E · 2004 · Transactions of the Royal Society of Tropical Medicine and Hygiene 98(11):644-652

A large field trial in Burkina Faso that benchmarked two newer skin repellents, IR3535 and picaridin (KBR 3023), against the reference standard DEET using wild-biting malaria mosquitoes rather than caged ones. More than 49,000 mosquitoes were collected, about 95% of them the Anopheles gambiae complex that carries most African malaria.

Barnard DR, Xue RD · 2004 · Journal of Medical Entomology 41(4):726–730

A lab screen putting 12 commercial repellents, four synthetic and eight botanical, on the same scale against three mosquito species, useful because it tests a 25% geraniol product and DEET side by side.

Liu W, Zhang J, Hashim JH, Jalaludin J, Hashim Z, Goldstein BD · 2003 · Environmental Health Perspectives 111(12):1454-1460

Emissions study of six mosquito coil brands and their air-quality and health implications.

Alten B, Caglar SS, Simsek FM, Kaynas S, Perich MJ · 2003 · Journal of Medical Entomology

Field trial of the allethrin Thermacell area repellent at multiple distances over six hours.

Nayar, J.K., Ali, A., Zaim, M. · 2002 · Journal of the American Mosquito Control Association 18(3):196-201

Laboratory and outdoor-tub comparison of s-methoprene and pyriproxyfen residual activity.

Fradin MS, Day JF · 2002 · New England Journal of Medicine (2002), 347(1):13-18

This widely cited New England Journal of Medicine study compared many different mosquito repellents head to head to see how long each one actually kept mosquitoes from biting. Volunteers put their treated arms into a cage of hungry mosquitoes, and the researchers recorded the time until the first bite for each product. Alongside skin-applied repellents such as DEET at various concentrations, the study included repellent-impregnated wristbands, which is the format sold as a hands-off, wear-it-and-forget-it alternative to putting repellent on your skin.

Oyedele AO, Gbolade AA, Sosan MB, Adewoyin FB, Soyelu OL, Orafidiya OO · 2002 · Phytomedicine 9(3):259-262

Laboratory formulation and repellency test of lemongrass oil against Aedes aegypti.

Fradin MS, Day JF · 2002 · New England Journal of Medicine 347(1):13-18

The landmark complete-protection-time study: Fradin and Day timed how long 16 store-bought repellents kept Aedes aegypti from biting, in controlled arm-in-cage tests with 15 volunteers. It is the study that put hard numbers on the idea that DEET lasts and botanicals do not.

Thavara U, Tawatsin A, Chompoosri J, Suwonkerd W, Chansang UR, Asavadachanukorn P · 2001 · Journal of the American Mosquito Control Association 17(3):190-195

A 2001 Thai study compared IR3535 (chemical name EBAAP) against DEET in the lab and the field across a dozen mosquito vectors. The two were broadly comparable, with IR3535 slightly ahead against most species and DEET clearly better against the forest malaria vector Anopheles dirus.

Boisvert M, Boisvert J · 2000 · Biocontrol Science and Technology, 10(5):517-561

A comprehensive review of the published evidence on what Bti kills and what it does not, gathering studies on its effect on the target mosquito and black fly larvae as well as on non-target wildlife such as mammals, birds, fish, amphibians, and other aquatic insects. The purpose is to characterize how target-specific Bti really is, which is the central safety question for a larvicide meant to go into standing water.

Ansari MA, Vasudevan P, Tandon M, Razdan RK · 2000 · Bioresource Technology 71(3):267-271

A study of peppermint oil in two roles: killing mosquito larvae in water and repelling adult mosquitoes on skin. It is often cited as evidence peppermint has real mosquito activity, not just a pleasant smell.

World Health Organization (WHOPES) · 1999 · WHO/CDS/CPC/WHOPES/99.2

WHO quality-control specifications and bioassay methods for bacterial larvicides.

Barnard DR · 1999 · Journal of Medical Entomology 36(5):625-629

A controlled study measuring how long five essential oils, alone and in blends, keep mosquitoes from biting treated skin across a wide range of concentrations. It sets a clear hierarchy and shows these oils do nothing at low doses.

Lukwa N, Chandiwana SK · 1998 · Central African Journal of Medicine 44(4):104-107

Chamber knockdown and mortality assay of pyrethrins coils against Anopheles gambiae.

U.S. Environmental Protection Agency, Office of Pesticide Programs · 1998 · EPA 738-R-98-004

EPA regulatory reregistration review of Bacillus thuringiensis, including Bti.

1997 · Biochemical Pharmacology

A laboratory enzyme study that pinned down why cats handle phenolic compounds so poorly, comparing how liver enzymes from cats, dogs, humans, and other species process acetaminophen as a probe.

Lindsay LR, Surgeoner GA, Heal JD, Gallivan GJ · 1996 · Journal of the American Mosquito Control Association 12(2 Pt 1):293-294

Field trial of citronella candles and incense against wild Aedes mosquitoes.

Frick TB, Tallamy DW · 1996 · Entomological News (1996), 107(2):77-82

This study looked at what suburban bug zappers actually catch. The researchers collected and identified the insects killed by electric zappers over a summer in residential settings, then sorted them into groups: biting flies such as mosquitoes and biting gnats, harmless non-target insects, and beneficial insects. The point was to test the everyday assumption behind buying a zapper for mosquito control, namely that the insects crackling on the grid are the ones that bite you.

U.S. Environmental Protection Agency, Office of Pesticide Programs · 1991 · EPA Prevention, Pesticides and Toxic Substances (updated 2001)

EPA regulatory review of methoprene as a mosquito larvicide and insect growth regulator.

Yap HH, Tan HT, Yahaya AM, Baba R, Loh PY, Chong NL · 1990 · Southeast Asian Journal of Tropical Medicine and Public Health 21(4):558-563

Field trial of d-allethrin and d-transallethrin mosquito coils in Malaysian homes, in a Culex-dominated setting.

1990 · Journal of the American Veterinary Medical Association

A case report of two cats poisoned after a flea-and-tick product containing both fenvalerate (a pyrethroid) and DEET was applied to their skin.

1990 · Veterinary Clinics of North America: Small Animal Practice

A short veterinary review of the toxicology of d-limonene, linalool, and crude citrus oil extracts used in insecticidal pet products, focused on why cats react badly to them.

1986 · Journal of the American Veterinary Medical Association

A controlled experiment applying a d-limonene insecticidal dip to cats at escalating strengths to map the dose at which citrus-oil toxicity appears.