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What smell do mosquitoes hate


A Look at The 10 Things Mosquitoes Hate Most

While most people don’t want to be hated by others, most of us wouldn’t mind being absolutely loathed by mosquitoes. Mosquito prevention is tricky, but when you know the pesky little insects’ secrets, it’s easier to get rid of mosquitoes and enjoy the outdoors again!

1. Mosquito Repellent

Evidence shows that mosquito repellents can help keep mosquitoes away from you for a certain amount of time. DEET, IR3535, Picaridin, and lemon eucalyptus oil are all used in various bug sprays and have all been found to be effective, with picaridin proving to be even more effective (and less oily) than DEET. Some natural, DEET-Free insect repellents have also been found to be effective in protecting against insect bites such as mosquitoes.

2. Certain Natural Scents

Mosquitoes are turned off by several natural scents: cinnamon, peppermint, cedar, citronella, lemongrass, patchouli, catnip, lavender, and more. Find a favorite, and use it when you want to spend time outside.

3. Wind – Artificial or Natural

Surprisingly, mosquitoes aren’t very good at flying. That’s good for us humans because it means all we need to do is create a bit of wind to keep mosquitoes from coming near. While you can’t control the elements, you can bring a fan outside and turn it on high. The mosquitoes won’t be able to get close enough to bother you.

4. Garlic

Bring on the garlic! Lucky for us, mosquitoes hate the delicious vegetable. If you happen to be one of the few who doesn’t like garlic, you can sprinkle minced garlic a few feet from your porch for a similar repelling effect.

5. Certain Styles of Clothing

Mosquitoes don’t really care if your clothing is in style or not, but they do care a whole lot about getting to your skin. Loose clothing makes it harder for the nasty bugs to get a good grip for a tasty bite of you.

6. Sober Individuals

Add this to the list of merits for being the designated driver – mosquitoes might skip over you to feast upon your inebriated buddies instead. Mosquitoes are naturally drawn to people drinking beer, possibly because of the smell. In addition, mosquitoes like clammy, sweaty skin. Alcohol can make people warmer which can cause them to sweat more.

7. Light Clothes

Mosquitoes like things they can see easily, and dark clothing makes you far more visible to a hungry mosquito. Light clothing allows you to blend into the background, making you harder to spot. Mosquitoes hate it when they can’t find you.

8. Smoke

Chances are you didn’t bring enough marshmallows to share, and that’s a good thing because mosquitoes probably won’t show up to your campfire anyway, since they don’t like smoke. Not having a campfire? Light the corner of an egg carton on fire, and set it somewhere safe (like on top of your barbecue). It will continue to smoke for a long time keeping mosquitoes out of sight.

9. Dry Areas

Mosquitoes are attracted to moist places. In fact, they need standing water to breed. Stay away from marshes (especially at dawn or dusk when mosquitoes are most active), keep standing water out of your yard, and put on plenty of bug spray if you’re going to be somewhere near the water.

10. Scent-Free Lotion

Mosquitoes really hate when you don’t wear a flowery or sweet smelling lotion. They love sweet smells and can more easily find you when you’re wearing them. Keep mosquitoes away by foregoing your sweet perfumes when you’re going to be outside.

The Best Mosquito Prevention

While these tips can help you keep mosquitoes at bay temporarily, they can be a hassle and may not always work with your outdoor plans. For the best long term mosquito prevention, contact the pros at Barefoot Mosquito .

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9 Scents That Mosquitoes Hate (And How To Use Them)

It’s summertime and you are enjoying the outdoor patio with your family and friends. The evening skylight looms in the distance and everything is beautiful. All of a sudden, your arm is itchy. You look down and what do you see? A mosquito biting you!

Mosquitoes have an incredibly strong sense of smell, which they use to find accessible food sources. You can repel mosquitoes by using scents they hate, like lavender, peppermint oil, geranium oil, cinnamon bark oil, lemon eucalyptus oil, citronella oil, catnip, rosemary, and pine oil.

If you are looking to be rid of those annoying mosquitoes for good, then settle in, grab a cup of tea, and enjoy reading this post. We will share exactly how to use each scent so you can deter mosquitoes from coming into your yard, garden, and home!

Just to add – when you shop using links from Pest Pointers, we may earn affiliate commissions if you make a purchase. As an Amazon Associate, we earn from qualifying purchases.

What Are Mosquitoes Attracted To?

So how do mosquitoes enter our yard, garden, or even the inside of our homes? What is it that attracts them to these places?

First off, mosquitoes tend to be a problem at night, from dusk until dawn. This is most likely why you see them at night.

Mosquitoes are attracted to lights, therefore explaining why you often find them buzzing around your porch or deck lights.

They also fly to standing water and breed in this area. This should lead you to do things like cleaning out any fountains or small bodies of water, like a birdbath, which you have in your backyard.

Mosquitoes just love to bite people! They are attracted to certain things that are on people’s skin including their sweat. It is not a pleasant thought, right? But, hey, that is just what they do!

What Scents Do Mosquitoes Hate And How Can You Use Them?

Let’s dig into why you are here. Let’s learn all about the various scents that mosquitoes hate and how you can use them effectively.

Get ready to take notes!

Lavender Repels Mosquitoes

Ah, do you smell that wonderful scent? What could it be? Lavender, you say? Wow, it smells fantastic!

However, guess what? Mosquitoes absolutely hate the scent of lavender! It’s true!

Let’s say that you have a beautiful garden in your yard. What you should do is buy some lavender plants and plant them somewhere outside. You’ll notice that many of the mosquitoes that visited your home, stay away.

Now, it’s important to note that you should plant as many lavender plants as possible, not just a few. The aroma of one plant itself won’t be enough to repel mosquitoes.

So, to repel mosquitoes with lavender, plant or place 5-10 plants in areas you want to repel them. The more plants, the better. At times when you need to repel mosquitoes, crush some of the lavender to release the lavender oil inside, which will help to repel mosquitoes.

Well, what if you do not have a garden at your home or can’t get plants? That is totally okay because you can use lavender in other ways.

You can always look into some terrific products like the Plant Therapy Essential Oils in Lavender. Make sure you have an essential oil diffuser, then once the lavender essential oil arrives at your doorstep, get it set and press start!

The scent of lavender will waft through the air and help repel mosquitoes.

Mosquitoes Hate Peppermint Oil

Do you enjoy peppermint sticks or peppermint candy, especially at Christmas time when these products are in abundance everywhere?

Well, you may or may not enjoy the taste or fragrant smell of peppermint, but mosquitoes, they definitely hate the smell!

So what can you do if you want to use peppermint to repel mosquitoes?

Research published in the Journal of Medical Entomology showed that high concentrations of peppermint oil can repel mosquitoes. Researchers found that small concentrations of peppermint oil (5% and 10%) did not repel mosquitoes, but that only high concentrations of peppermint oil were effective.

I really wanted to recommend a product here, but it’s better for other insects and rodents instead of mosquitoes.

So that being said, if going by the research, placing peppermint essential oil in a diffuser near areas where you’d like to repel mosquitoes outdoors may be strong enough to keep mosquitoes away from your immediate area.

Peppermint plants most likely won’t work for this one, but if you do want to go that route, make sure that you crush up the peppermint plants at peak times when you want to repel mosquitoes.

Geranium Oil Repels Mosquitoes

One essential oil that you may not think of as a typical mosquito repellent is geranium oil.

While there isn’t significant scientific evidence to support geranium oil for repelling mosquitoes, geranium oil has been thought of as an age old DEET alternative for repelling mosquitoes.

While geranium oil on it’s own most likely isn’t enough to repel mosquitoes, it can be useful when used with other mosquito repelling ingredients such as lemongrass eucalyptus and rosemary. Take a look at SALLYEANDER No-Bite-Me Natural Bug Repellent which contains a mixture of 16 different mosquito repelling essential oils.

Cinnamon Bark Oil Can Help Eliminate Mosquito Eggs

Cinnamon often makes people think of warm, cozy winter nights when you are huddled in a blanket at home, with a cup of hot chocolate drizzled in cinnamon spice in your hands.

However, cinnamon bark oil has an alternative use as an effective mosquito elimination tool.

Cinnamon bark oil has a warm and spicy scent. According to research published by research published out of National Taiwan University, researchers found that Cinnamaldehyde, the primary organic compound in cinnamon was effective at inhibiting the growth of larvae of yellow fever mosquitos.

So, if you find a grouping of mosquito eggs, spraying cinnamon bark oil on the larvae may be an effectie solution to stunting mosquito growth near you.

Oil of Lemongrass Eucalyptus Deters Mosquitoes

Lemongrass is found everywhere, from ingredients to sprays to candles to lotions. Some people love its smell, others not so much. For mosquitoes? They hate the scent of citronella.

In truth, the oil of lemon eucalyptus is recommended by the CDC to prevent tick and mosquito bites on adults. It’s one of the only plant based repellents to be recommended to repel mosquito bites. The key ingredient, oil of lemon eucalyptus, is stronger in concentration that the base plant itself and can repel mosquitoes.

Upon searching the EPA database for registered mosquito repellents containing oil of lemon eucalyptus, you’ll find Coleman Botanicals Insect Repellent, which claims to repel mosquitoes as a DEET alternative for up to 6 hours. While not an endorsement from the EPA, it is a registered product.

Try out that essential oil and let us know if it works for you! Either way, you will get to enjoy the wonderful aroma of lemongrass in and around your home.

Citronella Repels Mosquitoes

Citronella candles are such an amazing thing to use on warm summer evenings when all you want to do is relax outside. Why should you use them? Well simply, citronella affects the scent glands of mosquiotes.

In truth, citronella blocks the scent receptors of mosquitoes. When citronella is applied topically or released into the air, mosquitoes are unable to find a proper food source and stay away from the area. You can apply citronella based mosquitoes topical repellents, or use a citronella candle.

There is a great product called the Cutter Citronella Candle that comes in a copper cup and it is about 20oz. 

All you need to do is get this candle set up outside and light it!

Once you get the candle burning, it will create a perimeter within its surrounding area which the mosquitoes will not be able to permeate. 

So if you want to protect yourself and your family from a night of getting bitten relentlessly by those irritating mosquitoes, take a look into some citronella!

Catnips Repels Mosquitoes Similar To DEET

Do you use catnip? Maybe you do, and maybe you do not, but let me drop some knowledge on you.

Catnip is one of the strongest forms of repellent against mosquitoes! Get some catnip leaves and crush them into small pieces. Once these release a natural oil, you can take that oil and rub it on various rags or similar fabrics.  Catnips has been shown to be almost as effective as DEET.

Spread these rags outside and let the catnip do its magic! If you weren’t sure what DEET was, it’s an EPA approved chemical compound that hides your scent from mosquitoes. So, catnip works the same way and can be just as effective when properly applied.

The Strong Scent Of Rosemary Repels Mosquitoes

Rosemary is the last scent we recommend you use to get rid of those darn mosquitoes! 

Mosquitoes hate the strong scent of rosemary.

In truth, mosquitoes are repelled by the strong scent of rosemary as its pungent aroma doesn’t indicate a food source and masks potential food sources simultaneously. To use rosemary as a mosquito repellent, you can crush leaves or keep small plants around areas mosquitoes frequent.

If you’re looking for a commercial solution, take a peak at Wondercide’s Rosemary Mosquito, Tick, and Insect Repellent Spray.

Pine Oil Repels Mosquitoes

One of the most tried and true rural methods for repelling mosquitoes actually has some scientific backing to it. Thats right, pine oil.

Pine oil will repel mosquitoes. Research from the Malaria Research Centre found that pine oil provided 100% protection from Anopheles culicifacies and 97% protection from southern house mosquitos, which are most commonly found in tropical climates.

While you may not be reading this from the tropics, it’s important to note that using pine oil as a mosquito repellent has been a homestead method for many years, and has some scientific validity to boot. While the study above looked at pine oil on the skin there are other ways that this may be effective.

For instance, a diffuser! Simply put, you can properly dilute pine oil and place it in a diffuser outside whenever you need to keep those pesky mosquitoes away.

Conclusion: Let’s Do A Quick Recap!

Thanks so much for sticking with us during this blog post!

We hope you learned a lot and know exactly what to do the next time mosquitoes start bothering you or invade your personal property.

Just to be on the safe side, let’s do a quick recap of all the scents we covered so you know just what to look for:

Well, that’s a wrap for us! Woohoo!

If you’re looking for more mosquito tips, check out our piece on how to keep mosquitoes out of your house for good.

Thank you so much for stopping by. See you soon for your next pest problem!

References

Barnard, D. R. (1999). Repellency of essential oils to mosquitoes (Diptera: Culicidae). Journal of medical entomology, 36(5), 625-629.

Cheng, S. S., Liu, J. Y., Tsai, K. H., Chen, W. J., & Chang, S. T. (2004). Chemical composition and mosquito larvicidal activity of essential oils from leaves of different Cinnamomum osmophloeum provenances. Journal of agricultural and food chemistry, 52(14), 4395-4400.

Cilek, J. E., & Schreiber, E. T. (1994). Failure of the” mosquito plant”, Pelargonium x citrosum’van Leenii’, to repel adult Aedes albopictus and Culex quinquefasciatus in Florida. Journal of the American Mosquito Control Association, 10(4), 473-476.

Clemens, A. N. (2011). The biology of mosquitoes.

Tucker, A.O., & Maciarellg, N.M.J. (1996). Essential oil analysis and field evaluation of the citrosa plant “Pelargonium Citrosum” as a repellent against populations of Aedes mosquitoes. Journal of the American Mosquito Control Association 12(I):69-74

Piyaratne, M. K., Amerasinghe, F. P., Amerasinghe, P. H., & Konradsen, F. (2005). Physico-chemical characteristics of Anopheles culicifacies and Anopheles varuna breeding water in a dry zone stream in Sri Lanka. Journal of Vector Borne Diseases, 42(2), 61.

What smells do not like mosquitoes: 10 main fragrances

Mosquito season is in full swing. If mosquito nets on windows and special equipment in sockets do not help, try filling the room with a natural and very pleasant aroma, which will also scare away small squeaking bloodsuckers.

Alexandra Petrukhina

1. No wonder we burned fir branches and cones on school trips to keep mosquitoes away from the fire. They cannot stand the smell of pine needles. It is not necessary to make a fire - you can use essential oils of cypress, juniper, spruce and other conifers - whichever you prefer. Add a drop or two of fragrance to the water when you mop your floors. You can also mix the oil with baby cream and spread on the skin.

2. Mosquitoes are bad for the smell of vanilla. You can use its pods, as well as essential oils and even ordinary vanillin. Treat your skin, clothes, furniture with a sweet aroma.

3. Flowers with a pronounced smell are disgusting to mosquitoes and midges. Dilute geraniums on the windows, light a scented candle with the scent of lavender, put chrysanthemums in a vase.

4. Mint and lemon balm against mosquitoes can be used as herbal pillows. Put one of these nearby - ensure yourself a restful healthy sleep and scare away annoying insects.

5. Legends say that vampires cannot stand the smell of garlic. Mosquitoes also drink blood... If you yourself are not embarrassed by harsh aromas, go ahead. Lay the peeled cloves side by side. The smell, by the way, will not only protect against itchy bites, but will also be an excellent prevention of colds.

6. Dislikes mosquitoes and citrus fruits. Lemon, orange, lime. The brighter the aroma, the less mosquitoes around. You can put a container with grated zest next to it, you can use the "grandmother's" life hack. At a time when special chemistry against insects had not yet been invented, our grandmothers cut a lemon in half and stuck "cloves" of cloves into it. The resulting spicy-citrus aroma perfectly repelled mosquitoes.

7. The famous Vietnamese "Asterisk" repels mosquitoes as well as known means.

8. Vinegar will help you deal with insects, but if you can withstand such a fragrant attack on wet and stuffy summer nights.

9. Experts offer ammonia for fighting. But this is also a dubious pleasure. It is simply not safe to be in a room smelling of such a scent.

10. Persian or Caucasian chamomile, pyrethrum, is often referred to as a famous ancient mosquito repellent. Dried flowers affect the nervous system of mosquitoes so that they are afraid to even fly close to a house where these flowers are. Dry and spread a couple of bouquets in different parts of the apartment. They say insects will disappear from the house for a week.

Well, if you are still not saved, wipe the bites with a weak solution of ammonia or apply a kefir or sour cream mask. You will see how quickly the itching and redness will pass.

5 smells from which mosquitoes immediately fly away

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The first month of spring is coming to an end, which means that very soon we will meet with annoying blood-sucking insects - mosquitoes. In temperate latitudes, these bloodsuckers are active from May to October, but most of all, of course, in summer. Representatives of 100 species of mosquitoes live on the territory of Russia, however, only females are dangerous to humans - the jaws of males are not sufficiently developed to bite through the skin. In order to protect yourself from these annoying insects, you can stock up on well-known products in the store, however, many of them cause allergies and are not able to provide a long-lasting effect for many hours. Therefore, we suggest you use one of the popular methods - safer and more effective. So, we tell you what smells repel mosquitoes.

  • Eucalyptus
  • Peppermint
  • Basil
  • Garlic
  • Calendula

Eucalyptus

Did you know that in the tribes that lived near the eucalyptus groves, they never even heard of such a disease as malaria? And all because the smell of this plant repels and disorientates mosquitoes. Once in close proximity to the eucalyptus, these insects cannot detect prey and in the end simply die of starvation. To get rid of mosquitoes in the house, you can buy eucalyptus in a pot, and on the street, eucalyptus oil, which can be bought at any pharmacy, will serve as a substitute for it. Well, if you are a fan of traditional store-bought insect repellents, choose those that contain the oils of this plant. By the way, the smell of eucalyptus repels not only mosquitoes, but also ticks.

Peppermint

Peppermint has a strong smell that mosquitoes hate. Therefore, if these annoyances constantly spoil your vacation in the country, just plant a few mint bushes next to the house. And if you finely chop the leaves of this plant and rub yourself with juice, mosquitoes will “bypass” you for several meters. It should be noted that mint helps not only protect against bloodsuckers, but also relieve inflammation and swelling after a bite.

Basil

Another plant that makes mosquitoes flee is basil. Unlike eucalyptus, it can be grown not only in a pot, but also in the garden. This will allow you to get rid of insects in your own area. In addition, basil can be used in the same way as mint - chopped with a knife and rubbed with fresh leaves. Well, for those who do not like gardening, basil essential oil can be recommended.

Garlic

This vegetable grows in every garden, but not everyone knows about its repellent properties. Do not be afraid: it is not necessary to rub yourself with garlic - just eat a clove or two. The fact is that mosquitoes find their prey by smell: the olfactory receptors of mosquitoes are tuned to detect chemicals released with human sweat. When garlic enters our body, allicin - an active substance with a pungent odor - begins to stand out on the skin along with sweat and repel insects. In addition, you can sprinkle the area with finely chopped garlic - then mosquitoes will never fly up not only to you, but also to your house.

Calendula

Calendula, or marigold, can be easily found not only in any suburban area, but also in every city flower bed. Meanwhile, these seemingly harmless, bright flowers are detrimental to mosquitoes. Therefore, be sure to plant calendula in the garden, and do not forget to bring bouquets of these flowers into the house from time to time.

Based on materials from zhena_ohotnika.ru, mosquitomagnet.ru.

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