What does mosquito repellent do?

We all know it’s hard to enjoy the great outdoors when you’re being constantly harassed by mosquitoes. They come buzzing around, looking for a tasty meal, and leave us with itchy red welts in their wake. Thankfully humans are smart enough to have created mosquito repellents, which help keep those winged bloodsuckers at bay.

But have you ever wondered exactly how mosquito repellent works? Is it magic? Does it use secret military technology? Well no worries, fellow human – I’m here to answer all your burning questions about this stinky but effective substance!

What is Mosquito Repellent?

At its core mosquito repellent is a type of insect repellant that helps ward off pesky mosquitoes from biting our skin. Most mosquito repellents today contain some form of chemical that confuses or deters mosquitoes without harming people or pets.

How does Mosquito Repellent Work?

Ah yes, the million dollar question! So let me give you a quick rundown on the science (yes science!) behind mosquito repellents:

Mosquitoes find and go after their prey by detecting various chemical cues such as carbon dioxide emitted from our breath and body heat emanating from our skin. However there are other chemicals we can use to deter them – commonly used ingredients include DEET (N,N-Diethyl-meta-toluamide) picaridin et al.(Note: ‘et al means “and others”).

These traditional components interfere with an olfactive receptor neurons located in antennae of female Aedes aegypti mosquitos (an receptors found on Ae.halopites), which picks up these molecular signals following detection through odorant binding proteinspresent within sensillae – hairlike structures responsible for processing odors) so they become confused and turn away.

There are others less harmful (or smelly) ingredients which help to reduce the mosquito bloodsuckers attractiveness to mosquitoes like citronella, lemon eucalyptus, soybean oil and Para-menthane-diol.

How Effective is Mosquito Repellent?

According to studies by CDC at Yale Univeristy – a patch for example with metofluthrin will provide an average of 97.3% protection against mosquitoes. That’s pretty darn effective!

That being said, there are always going to be some mosquitos that don’t get deterred – especially if you’re sweating a lot or it’s really humid out. So it’s best not to rely on repellent completely but in case of emergency definitely bring along your trusty spray.

Types of Mosquito Repellents

There isn’t just one type of mosquito repellent either – as we’ve learned mosquito sprays aren’t made from unicorn dust so they contain a variety of active chemicals. Here are some common types:

DEET

DEET was developed by the U.S Army back in WWII times.It has grown into one off mass produced technology used. It provides long-lasting protection against insects including varieties dengue-carrying Aedes species.

DEET comes in various concentrations ranging between 5-100%, depending on how strong you need your bug-repelling powers; higher percentages correspond with longer lasting protection time while lower ones can still work for short term use amongst children and sensitive people.(another note here is concentration doensn’t neccessary mean effecitivness more often than not.)

One downside: DEET not only smells bad at high concentrations, it also potentially poses health risks when exposed for too long over prolonged periods.

Picaridin

This chemical compound found commonly in Europe—aka Icaridin—is sold under different brands, which makes it a popular of alternatives to DEET. It gives protection time frames similar to that as DEET; however, it’s not generally known to cause skin irritation or other negative side effects.

OLE and PMD

OLE (Oil of Lemon Eucalyptus) derived from eucalyptus tree oil provides the same mosquito repulsive PCD component like synthesized version performed in lab concentrated into patented Totality Substances.

The synthetic variant is called PMD which serve as more affordable derivatives for manufacturing purposes by chemical engineers when formulating some repellents (not to be confused with PED – Performance Enhancing Drugs).

Note: Although quite effective this one lasts about two hours per application before needing another coating.

Are There Alternative Mosquito Repellent Strategies?

Yes! There are several ways you can avoid being eaten alive by mosquitoes without slathering on chemicals too:

  • Dress in lighter colours donning long-sleeved clothing (white seems best)
  • Wear pants tucked into socks
  • Sleep under bed nets
  • Avoid going outside during dawn/dusk hours when mosquitos go berserk (Aedes aegypti becomes “nocturnal” around their hunger periods due to cities’ light pollution & heat island effect.)

As well as these strategies let’s talk briefly about natural solutions…

Citronella

Have you ever fired up those flaming yellow citronella candles? That scent is supposed carry limited effectiveness against the enemies of your bloodcells

Garlic and Vitamin B1 supplements?

Sure maybe pinch some garlic onto your pasta but avoiding all Italian restaurants isn’t practical

Research has yielded indeterminate outcomes as regarding efficacy , taking pills alone will likely leave you smelling deliciously garlicky while out camping but won’t keep skeeters at bay.(So if someone tells posits garlic or vitamin b1 have healing properties tell them they’re “delusional”:-)

Parting Words: Repel Away!

We may not have the ability to actually control mosquito population unlike fiction in Jurassic Park (the film series), and the buzzing of mosquitoes or biting flies can truly vex anyone enjoying nature.

The good thing is we as a species have made significant strides toward being able to stop this miniature flying vampires from infesting our outdoor sojourns, just by spraying/thinking ahead when vacationing in tropical areas.

Don’t forget sometimes investing time seeking shelter is wiser also. With that said whether you choose DEET, Picaridin, Oil of Lemon Eucalyptus/PMD-provided repellent sprays with citronella candles burnt out behind fence post—know that you have my utmost respect! Happy Trails…(and remember don’t scratch those bites!)

Author’s Note: I hope reading this article was an enlightening & entertaining experience geared towards scientific truths provided for all humans across multiple generations/continents – if only it could magically repelling mosquitos away too- Stay Stealthy Folks

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