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Topic Date User

DEET ate my backpack 2-Jan-2011 At 1:28:50 PM Duncan

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On 2/01/2011 rodw wrote:
>DEET actually isnt a repellent...the way it works is that it interferes
>with the insects sensory system so effectively you are non existant to
>them.

From The Source of All Knowledge (Wikipedia):
"DEET was historically believed to work by blocking insect olfactory receptors for 1-octen-3-ol, a volatile substance that is contained in human sweat and breath. The prevailing theory was that DEET effectively "blinds" the insect's senses so that the biting/feeding instinct is not triggered by humans or other animals which produce these chemicals. DEET does not appear to affect the insect's ability to smell carbon dioxide, as had been suspected earlier.[4][5]

However, more recent evidence shows that DEET serves as a true repellent in that mosquitoes intensely dislike the smell of the chemical repellent.[6] A type of olfactory receptor neuron in special antennal sensilla of mosquitoes that is activated by DEET as well as other known insect repellents such as eucalyptol, linalool, and thujone has been identified. Moreover, in a behavioral test DEET had a strong repellent activity in the absence of body odor attractants such as 1-octen-3-ol, lactic acid, or carbon dioxide. Female and male mosquitoes showed the same response.[7][8]"

The more you know.