Natural Insect Repellent

This recipe for insect repellent is all natural and relies on the bug's hormonal reactions to scent!

Anyhoo, I've made quite an awesome discovery this past week. For those of you who might not know this, THERE ARE LOTS OF FLIES IN ALBUQUERQUE! Seriously. It's like the Amityville-freakin-Horror in my house right now. So a few days ago, as I attempted to enjoy my 10 minutes of alone time for the week, many many flies kept landing on me so I couldn't even read my book in peace. I remembered that citronella was supposed to keep bugs away. 

Well, I didn't have any citronella, so I went with lemongrass. Here's the recipe:

Small Batch Lemongrass Essential Oil From Chasing Clouds

Recipe

30 drops of lemongrass essential oil

2 ounces hemp oil

Mix this up in a PET plastic or glass bottle and keep it in the fridge. Rub it on any exposed skin. Be generous. 

This actually worked for flies! I couldn't believe it! I had to reapply every couple of hours, but wow. 

TRY IT!

Why it Works

Lo and behold, Citronella, a well-known insect repellent, is actually within the same genus as lemongrass (Cymbopogon)! Who knew? What we know as lemongrass is usually Cymbopogon citratus, while citronella is generally Cymbopogon nardus or C. winterianus. 

Lemongrass is native to India and tropical Asia, and is produced there in large quantities. There are many co-ops sprouting up that grow the lemongrass and produce the essential oils themselves. This is an awesome economic opportunity for so many communities.

Lemongrass Ladies!

The EPA published a study in 2011 that showed Lemongrass to be an effective mosquito repellent. They list the oil on its GRAS list (generally reported as safe). Citronella has been listed as a non-toxic insect repellent since 1948, and is also on the GRAS list.

The major constituent (65 to 85 percent) of Lemongrass is most likely responsible for its use as an insect repellent. Citral (3,7-dimethy-s,6-octadienal) has a pheremonal affect on the sensory nervous system of insects via their antennae (Hapke et al. 2001). Hapke's study is very interesting. It shows that citral disrupts the hormonal processes of mating among a certain type of moth. A suggested application of this study is to reduce moth populations through fumigation using citral.

Little research has been done about fumigant effects of Citral on insects. It showed some insecticidal properties against Diptera and Coleoptera by fumigant treatment (Rice & Coats1994). According to Ryan & Byrne (1988), Citral works as a competitive inhibitor of acetyl- cholinesterase and, thus, has a toxic effect on the sensory nervous system in insect antennae. But the interaction of Citral and pheromone is still not clear and requires further investigation.

I'm envisioning this scenario: 

Two prehistoric flies encounter a puddle of lemongrass essential oil. One has an aversion to the scent and flies off to procreate and do all the things that flies do. She has millions of offspring who all hate the scent of lemongrass and avoid it. They continue to do well. They now live in my yard in Albuquerque, New Mexico. 

The other fly LOVES the smell and rolls around and rubs its hands in the puddle. She flies off to procreate and etc., but her reproductive hormones have been messed with and she has no offspring. Her citral-loving genetic line dies out. 

Apparently, something like 60 or 70 percent of all insects tested have an aversion to the scent of citral/lemongrass, so that scenario did not result in the complete aversion to the scent. It is similar to the human aversion to the smell of rotten food. It has developed across time to prevent us from eating dangerous stuff, but some individuals have a stronger aversion than others, and some don't mind the scent at all...

Here's a list of some of the studies that have been conducted:

Oyedele AO, Gbolade AA, Sosan MB, Adewoyin FB, Soyelu OL, Orafidiya OO. Formulation of an effective mosquito-repellent topical product from lemongrass oil. Phytomedicine . 2002;9(3):259-262.

Ahmad F, et al. Repellancy of essential oils against the domiciliary cockroach, Periplanta americana . Insect Sci Its Appl . 1995;16:391-393.

Gilbert B, Teixeira DF, Carvalho ES. Activities of the Pharmaceutical Technology Institute of the Oswaldo Cruz Foundation with medicinal, insecticidal and insect repellant plants. An Acad Bras Cienc . 1999;71(2):265-271.

MIRI