Using essential oils for Natural mosquito and tick control:
Lemongrass oil for mosquito and tick control
Hundreds of research papers, dissertations, book chapters and webpages have been written detailing studies about the efficacy of Lemongrass oil on mosquitoes, flies, cockroaches and other arthropods.
Here are some of my favorites: Here; Here; Here; Here;
Yes, this is powerful and effective stuff, but why does it work? Let’s discuss…
What makes lemongrass oil an effective method of control?
Lemongrass oil is the essential oil obtained from the aerial parts of Cymbopogon citratus. Geranial (α-citral) and neral (β-citral) are the two main active components of lemongrass oil, but other compounds, such as geraniol and citronellol, which are known repellents, are also present in small amounts.
The volatile components of essential oils can be classified into four main groups: terpenes, benzene derivatives, hydrocarbons and other miscellaneous compounds.
Geranial (α-citral) and neral (β-citral) are both C10 monoterpenoids.
While we are not entirely sure what is the mode of action for lemongrass oil or its main monoterpenoid parts, a growing body of research suggests that the mode of action is different from the main groups of synthetic insecticides currently used to control mosquitoes and ticks. —
This helps to explain why we see excellent results for Lemongrass oil on mosquito populations that are especially hard to control with conventional chemistry. Note that the compounds studied in the above sited article are from Cedar trees: Chamaecyyparis nootkatensis & Calocedrus decurrens. However the components isolated and studied: thymoquinone, nootkatone, and carvacrol are similar to Geranial and neral mentioned earlier in this blog post.
The power of a mix of Natural essential oils in Stop The Bites!
Stop The Bites! contains much more than Lemongrass Oil. It also contains Castor oil, Geraniol, & Cedarwood oil. Each of these essential oils contains a wide array of bioactive molecules. Together the mixture is much more effective than the sum of its individual parts.
Over the next few days, we will talk about each of these essential oils individually to look at what makes them unique.
