Cinnamon Oil Kills Mosquito Larvae (Better-Smelling Bug Repelling Tests Underway)

WebMD ^ | 7/16/04 | Daniel DeNoon

[gilliam]

I bet it attracts bears though!

[stainlessbanner]

Anything is better than those new propane repellers - I bagged one skeeter in a week (yes it was on).

[truthandlife]

I have one too. I got it last summer and it is now in the attic.

[Redbob]

Used motor oil also kills mosquito larvae - you just pour it on standing water: stagnant ponds, ditches, etc.

[snooker]

WOW ... defective skeeter catcher, Batman. A lot of people have the propane powered mosquito catchers around here and they get a bag full in no time. Clears the yard in days. Yep the skeeters are thick, but not after catching them all.

[bikepacker67]

Used motor oil also kills mosquito larvae - you just pour it on standing water: stagnant ponds, ditches, etc.

Ya, but it's hell on the brookies and browns.

[steve8714]

Something called oleic acid does better, because it makes a film one molecule thick.

[Sergio]

Any oil will work. It spreads across the surface of the water where the larvae live and stops oxygen transfer from the air to the water. When the larvae use up the oxygen in the water, they die of oxygen starvation.

We used to use WD-40 for small areas of stagnant water that could not be emptied.

Best Regards

Sergio

[jtminton]

Orange oil is supposed to work, too.

[null and void]

ping

[TheErnFormerlyKnownAsBig]

send me your email address and I'll send you a couple of pics of my wild bows I caught up in the mountains here in WA. Actually I just found out a few days ago they are calling them Montana Black Spotted trout. I never heard of them before but they look like bows on the sides, Goldens on the top and black spots are inbetween the two areas. The bottom of this lake is a golden sandy color so I think they just evolved to the sandy/golden back shade.

[fat city]

Motor oil makes a slick one molecule thick also.

[blackdog]

Any oil dispersed on the waters surface will kill all juevenile mosquito larva. They use a tube for breathing, like a short snorkel. The oil prevents the larva from getting to the air, pushing against the oil to no avail all it can get is a snout full of oil. Any vegetable oil on the top of a calm body of water will do the trick.

Of course the adults just keep on laying more eggs, so unless you are a stockholder in Crisco, I'd let the mosquitos do what they do.

[Chewbacca]

Watch the price of cinnamon oil go up.

I could probably make a mint selling the stuff in Alaska.

[afraidfortherepublic]

...you just pour it on standing water: stagnant ponds, ditches, etc

You'd get arrested big time in Wisconsin for that.

[steve8714]

but doesn't break down and may be toxic, as most who put MO into a larva farm will just dump until it's gone.

[coloradan]

They found that one chemical in the oil, cinnamaldehyde, worked the best. At less than 50 parts per million, it killed half the mosquito larvae. That's better than DEET, currently the best-known mosquito repellent which is applied on the skin and repels insects rather than kills them.

This reporter knows the comparison is between apples and oranges, but makes it anyway. DEET is a repellent, while cinnamon is alleged to be a poison, and the story admits this, yet it also says the cinnamon is "better" than DEET at killing them. Dumbed-down reporting, even if the subject matter is interesting; you can buy "oil of cinnamon" in grocery stores, and if that's all it takes to kill mosquitoes, that's great.

[fat city]

Yeah, I understand-- but isn't petro oil what they used to control mosquitoes (and malaria) during the construction of the Panama canal?

[Red Boots]

We think that cinnamon oil might also affect adult mosquitoes by acting as a repellent," Cheng says in a news release. According to the National Toxicology program, cinnamaldehyde is used in foods, beverages, medical products, perfumes, cosmetics, soaps, detergents, creams, and lotions. It's also been used as an animal repellent, as an insect attractant, and as an antifungal agent. It may have toxic effects at high concentrations.

Here's the logically developed conclusion: The reporter claims it's as " good as DEET." The Chinese guy says it hasn't been tested yet, and the National Toxicology center lists the key ingredient as an insect attractant. Where do they get these guys ?