Action of Repellents on Mosquitoes Feeding Through Treated Membranes or on Treated Blood

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Abstract
A method for testing repellents against Aedes aegypti (L.) feeding on citrated blood through an artificial membrane is described. Repellents were applied at various concentrations on the membrane Or in the blood, and the concentration required to give 50% repellency was determined. The percentage of mosquitoes that fed was affected by the time between anesthesia by carbon dioxide or cold and feeding. The second factor was not a critical one. When applied on the membrane or in the blood, diethyltoluamide was the strongest repellent, followed by dimethyl phthalate and ethyl hexanediol. Dimethyl phthalate applied on the membrane probably acted as a vapor repellent only. There were indications that blood acted as a vapor stimulant in feeding. Rabbits injected intravenously with diethyltoluamide did not repel the mosquitoes, nor did the blood taken from injected rabbits and offered through a membrane. It was concluded that the repellent was removed from the blood very rapidly.