EFFECTS OF MIXTURES OF DEET WITH ESSENTIAL OILS AS REPELLENTS OF TRIATOMA INFESTANS

LÓPEZ SB; JOFRÉ BARUD ; ZYGADLO JA ; STARIOLO R; FERESIN G; LÓPEZ M.L; TAPIA A

Congreso; XXXI Reunion anual de la Sociedad de Biología de Cuyo; 2013

DEET (N, N-diethyl-m-methylbenzamide) is an effective synthetic repellent against a wide range of insects. However, it may exert toxic reactions under some circumstances, age groups and may damage plastic synthetic fabric and painted surfaces. It would be interesting to explore alternative products. The essential oils (EO) are being developed as repellents against insects. In previous works, we have reported good repellent activity of essential oils from native species collected in San Juan, Argentina, against T. infestans, the vector of Chagas disease. We propose the use of mixtures of EO and synthetic products as a way to reduce the load of the active ingredient thus achieving equivalent levels of efficacy. Our objective was to test mixtures of DEET and EOs against T. infestans. The repellency on T. infestans nymphs was determined according to a standard method; Talukder and Howse (1994). Based on the percentage of repellency (RP) in a 72-h treatment, the best results were obtained for Azorella cryptantha EO (AcEO) using a mixture of 75 % of AcEO and 25 % DEET. This mixture was more effective than treatments with DEET alone (100%) or the mixture to 75%. Acknowledgements: Serv. Nac. Chagas, Cba. for providing T. infestans nymphs. Financial support was provided by CICITCA (F887). CONICET (LML, ZJA, GEF). Área temática: BT-San Juan