Repellent effect of plant essential oils against Aedes albopictus.

Six essential oils: asteraceae oil, rutaceae oil, mentha piperta oil, carvacryl oil, citronella oil, and eucalyptus oil were tested for evaluation of their repellent effects against Aedes albopictus mosquitoes under laboratory conditions. Only citronella oil and eucalyptus oil were tested with human beings. There was considerable protection for mice. Carvacryl oil (7%) provided 100% protection for mice after 7 h. Eucalyptus oil (15%) gave protection to humans for least 3 h; the protection time was prolonged to 5 h after adding 5% vanillin. The mixture could be developed into a practical product after the field evaluation.