DEVELOPMENT OF AN ORALLY EFFECTIVE INSECT REPELLENT

Abstract

Compounds were tested for mosquito repellency by the electronic recording method, and the results were statistically analyzed. A computer program was devised that yields a repellency index and confidence limits in comparison with controls for each test compound on the basis of data obtained from the electronic recordings. A hypothesis was developed that could explain the mechanism of attraction of mosquitoes to warm-blooded animals. They hypothesis states that gamma-aminobutyric acid (GABA), a substance which is known to inhibit transmission of nerve impulses across certain synaptic junctions in some animal species, may also play an inhibitory role in the nervous system of mosquitoes. GABA was shown to reversibly combine with carbon dioxide (CO2), depending upon temperature and CO2 tension, and it was proposed that the GABA-CO2 complex formed no longer possesses the synaptic inhibitory power of GABA alone. The interreactions of the GABA with CO2 and heat were hypothesized to form the basis of mosquitoes' attraction to hosts.

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Document Details

Document Type
Technical Report
Publication Date
Nov 11, 1966
Accession Number
AD0643091

Entities

People

  • Philip Kaskin

Organizations

  • IIT Research Institute

Tags

Communities of Interest

  • Biomedical

DTIC Thesaurus Topics

  • Alanine
  • Amines
  • Amino Acids
  • Analysis Of Variance
  • Biological Sciences
  • Chemistry
  • Computer Programs
  • Computers
  • Data Science
  • Databases
  • Detectors
  • Information Science
  • Literature Surveys
  • Nervous System
  • Recording Systems
  • Statistical Analysis
  • Surveys

Readers

  • Neuroscience
  • Systems Analysis and Design
  • Vector-Borne Disease and Entomology

Technology Areas

  • Microelectronics