Home Remedies
Eating garlic or taking vitamin B tablets
don't work to reduce mosquito bites.
Eating garlic or taking a vitamin B tablet are often suggested as ways to prevent mosquito bites. These remedies have been tested by asking volunteers to take either a placebo (a capsule containing sugar or vitamin C) or a remedy capsule (garlic or vitamin B) and then to participate in a test of their attractiveness to mosquitoes in a laboratory. Attractiveness can be determined by counting the number of bites or landings for each subject. Volunteers are then asked to return at another time for a second assay, this time after eating whichever treatment (placebo or remedy) they did not use the first time. Studies of garlic and vitamin B did not find evidence that these substances could reduce mosquito attraction. Studies in a more natural setting have not been carried out.
Scented Personal Products
There is no evidence that wearing scented lotions or perfumes attracts mosquitoes.
Other remedies include limiting the use of scented lotions or perfumes. Female mosquitoes will often use flowers as souces of nectar, which they can use for energy and some floral scents are attractive to mosquitoes in laboratory settings. Although there are studies of mosquito attraction to plants and floral scents, there are no studies of the effects of scented personal products (lotions, sprays, deodorants, aftershaves, or perfumes) on mosquito attraction to humans.
Dark Colored Clothing
Clothing that does not reflect much light is usually more attractive than more reflective clothing.
In practical terms, black or dark-hued clothing of any color is often more attractive to many types of nuisance mosquitoes than light (white, khaki, green, or yellow) clothing.
Several studies indicate that mosquitoes belonging to the genera Aedes
or Ochlerotatus prefer dark colors over light colors. These studies will
be summarized below. Caution should be exercised in assuming these results
apply to other genera, especially Anopheles, for which there is limited
data suggesting that lighter colors (yellow and white) may be preferred
(Ko, 1925).
Brett (1938), Brown (1951, 1954, 1955) and Gjullin (1947) established color preference in some mosquitoes by exposing them to different colored cloths, either as clothing on human volunteers, stretched over a box which enclosed a human hand, or in studies using temperature controlled robots. The general order of preference was black (most attractive); red (very attractive); blue (attractive to neutral), green, yellow, and white (less attractive).
Alcohol
Drinking alcohol may increase your attractiveness to mosquitoes.
An interesting study suggested that the ingestion of alcohol may stimulate mosquito attraction. Mosquito landing on volunteers significantly increased after alcohol ingestion compared with before ingestion (Shiral et al. 2002). Bernier et al. (2007) also reported that a subject who consumed alcohol regularly was the most attractive of the six people participating in a study of mosquito preferences. This most attractive individual produced the highest levels of acetone, ethanol and methanol in sweat (volatile skin emanations) but it is unknown whether these compounds were responsible for the increase in attraction.
Bats 
There is no evidence that increasing the population of bats in an area will reduce the numbers of mosquitoes enough to affect human biting rates.
The claim that bats are particularly valuable as mosquito predators may have started with a mistaken assumption based on a real scientific finding in the laboratory. Research conducted in the late 1950s showed that bats released in a room filled with mosquitoes could catch up to 10 mosquitoes per minute (Griffin et al. 1960). The results have been extrapolated to suggest that wild bats can consume 600 mosquitoes per hour. Using that figure, a colony of 500 bats might remove 250,000 mosquitoes each hour and theoretically afford mosquito control for an entire neighborhood. However, a bat's behavior when locked in a room with nothing to feed upon but mosquitoes tells us nothing about behavior in the wild where the community of insects that can serve as food is much more varied.
The diet of wild bats has been analyzed by dissecting stomach contents or examining fecal pellets. This research has shown that insectivorous bats are opportunistic feeders and that mosquitoes usually make up a very small percentage of their natural diet. For example, a look at fecal pellets for the little brown bat showed 71% small moths, 16.8% spiders and 1.8% mosquitoes (Whitaker and Lawhead, 1992) while the diet of the big brown bat was dominated by beetles and caddisflies (reviewed in Agosta 2002). Providing houses to enhance bat populations is an admirable activity for conservation purposes but it is not likely to help with a mosquito problem.
Some of this information was modified from http://www.rci.rutgers.edu/~insects/proprom.htm
Purple Martins
Purple
Martins do not control mosquitoes.
Sometimes you read that "a Purple Martin will eat 2,000 mosquitoes a day and up to 14,000 when the insects are extremely plentiful". But this statement is based on an estimate of the number of mosquitoes that would be required to sustain a purple martin, not on any actual analysis of the natural diet. Studies of wild birds show that mosquitoes form an insignificant portion of the Purple Martin's diet (Griffin 1968, Johnston 1967).
Some of this information was modified from http://www.rci.rutgers.edu/~insects/proprom.htm
Amphibian Predators
Most
adult frogs and tadpoles don't eat mosquitoes.
Adult frogs eat a variety of things but there is no evidence that mosquitoes are an important part of the adult diet of any species. Tadpoles of most frog species do not feed on mosquito larvae (the immature stages that live in water). Instead, most tadpoles are general herbivores and suspension feeders. However, a few species are able to feed on small invertebrates and other tadpoles. Predation on mosquito larvae has been documented by tadpoles of the North American species Scaphiopus hammondi (spadefoot toad) (Barber and King 1927), Hyla cinerea (Green treefrog) (Ritchie 1982) and Hyla septentrionalis (giant treefrog) (Spielman and Sullivan 1974), as well as by other species in other parts of the world [Bufo viridis (European green toad), Lechriodus fletcheri (sandpaper frog); Rana tigrina (Indian bullfrog), Anotheca spinos (coronated treefrog)].
We know little about how tadpoles interact with mosquitoes in natural settings. Barber and King (1927) reported that spadefoot toad tadpoles were effective predators on Aedes dorsalis in nature in New Mexico. Experimental tests of tadpoles for mosquito control suggested that they might reduce mosquito populations but this work has been carried out in artificial containers (Ritchie 1982; Spielman and Sullivan 1974; Willems et al. 2005).
Although only a few types of tadpoles will eat mosquito larvae, some tadpoles may compete with larvae for food (Blaustein and Margalit 1996; Mokany and Shine 2003a). In one study, the presence of tadpoles meant that mosquitoes had a harder time getting enough food to survive and turn into adults. In a second study, a frog tadpole was host to another organism (a fungus or yeast) which lived harmlessly in the gut of the tadpole. However this fungus inhibited mosquito growth when tadpole and mosquito were in the same pond (Mokany and Shine 2003b). Experimental releases of tadpoles for competition could have broad appeal owing to conservation concerns for this group of vertebrates (Lounibos 2007). Local regulations must be followed when considering introduction of any vertebrate or invertebrate species.
Reptilian Predators (Turtles)
One type of turtle, the red-eared slider
(Trachemys scripta) has been used for control of mosquito larvae.
In a community in Honduras, each cement water-storage tank received a single 6-12 month old turtle. Turtles did well in the tanks and provided complete control of mosquito larvae (Marten et al. 1992, Borjas et al. 1993). In the USA, turtles were introduced into an experimental enclosure of a roadside ditch in Louisiana, for control of Culex larvae (Marten 2007). The investigator reported that the turtles reduced the number of larvae by 99% by the 5th week of the study. Practical issues related to the use of turtles for biological control are discussed in Marten (2007). The need for supplemental feeding and the ability of turtles to move away from the area are two potential issues. The researcher suggests that turtles might be useful in isolated water bodies such as retention ponds where the turtles would have little motivation to leave and supplemental food could be provided if necessary. Local regulations must be followed when considering introduction of any vertebrate or invertebrate species.
Fish
Many types of mosquito-eating fish have been used in control programs
across the world (Walton 2007). Currently, the use of fish is tempered
by two concerns. First, introducing non-native fish can have dramatic
consequences on the aquatic environment. Non-native fish can outcompete
native fish leading to local extinction or population reductions. They
can also have dramatic effects on other non-fish species, especially
in habitats that lacked fish before the introduction. In some areas,
fish that are native to an area are useful for control and sometimes
these are even provided by local mosquito control districts. A second
concern, however, relates to the introduction of disease organisms
when transplanting native fish from one area to another. For example,
in Wisconsin, viral hemorrhagic septicemia is a particular concern
as it is a disease that can wipe out fish populations. Movement of
fish in this state requires that the fish be certified as disease free.
Local regulations must be followed when considering introduction of
any vertebrate or invertebrate species.
Vanilla
Vanilla, a common kitchen flavoring, has been suggested by members
of the general public as a possible repellent. Two published studies
demonstrated minimal to no repellent activity of vanillin, the primary
component of the extract of the vanilla bean (Khan et al. 1975; Tawatsin
et al. 2001) and this is supported by informal testing by my laboratory
and correspondents. However, the two published studies indicated that
addition of vanillin to DEET or to other repellents increased the efficacy
against some mosquitoes (Khan et al. 1975; Tawatsin et al. 2001). Extracts
of vanilla plants also have been tested for the ability to kill mosquito
larvae directly (insecticidal rather than repellent function).
Catnip Oil
In 2001, Catnip oil was reported to repel mosquitoes 10 times
better than DEET. Subsequent tests of this claim have shown some repellency
for catnip oil and its component nepetalactone (Zhu et al. 2006). However,
these laboratory tests have not shown that catnip oil works as well as
DEET. There were also unusually strong differences in protection time between
the mosquito species tested, ranging from no protection to 4 hours (Webb
and Russell 2007, Chauhan et al. 2005, Bernier et al. 2005).
Insect Predators
Information Coming Soon
Other Home Remedies
Bananas and listerine have not been tested.
As of now, we don't know whether avoiding bananas or spritzing your deck with
Listerine will have any effect on mosquito behavior.
References
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