Smell of DEET repulsive to mosquitoes

The groundbreaking research released by the UC Davis Department of Entomology yesterday at 2 p.m. was picked up by some prominent media outlets, including the New York Times and Reuters.

"We found that mosquitoes can smell DEET and they stay away from it," UC Davis entomology professor Walter Leal was quoted in the Reuters article. "DEET doesn't mask the smell of the host or jam the insect's senses. Mosquitoes don't like it because it smells bad to them."

Earlier research by scientists at Rockefeller University concluded that DEET jams the insect's ability to smell. "Not so fast," interjected the New York Times in today's article, reporting on Leal's research.

“They smell it and they go away because they don’t like it for some reason,” he was quoted in the New York Times.

DEET, the acronym for N,N-diethyl-3-methylbenzamide, is the most common active ingredient in insect repellents. The U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention and other health groups recommend DEET as the best way to avoid the bites of mosquitoes, ticks and other disease-carrying insects.

A full news release about the research is on the UC ANR News and Information Outreach Web site.

Mosquitoes are repelled by DEET.

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