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Student 10-Minute Paper

Medical, Urban, and Veterinary Entomology

Student Competition

Student

Grad Competition MUVE: Vector Biology and Management

Rancid rumors or native wisdom? Evaluating the efficacy of insect repellents attributed to historic-period American Indians

Monday, November 6, 2023
11:54 AM – 12:06 PM ET
Location: Gaylord National Resort & Convention Center, Potomac 1-2
In-Person Student Competition
Mosquitos are the most dangerous animals in the world and vectors for diseases such as dengue fever and malaria. Historic Native Americans used various methods to protect themselves from mosquito bites. While the use of botanical repellants has been widely documented, there are a handful of accounts of Native Americans using animal fats as mosquito repellants. In this study, we evaluated the repellent efficacy of fresh and rancid versions of four traditionally used animal fats— bear grease, alligator oil, shark liver oil, and cod liver oil—as mosquito and tick repellants. We performed a series of contact and long-distance repellency assays to assess if animal fats repel mosquitoes and ticks. Our results showed that specific rancid animal fats are effective at repelling mosquitoes. Rancid alligator oil and cod liver oil protected a treated volunteer significantly longer than fresher versions of these oils. We also found that none of the treatments tested repelled ticks. These findings support that historic Native Americans used animal fats to protect against mosquito bites.