Yale Finds 1 Garlic Compound Disrupts Mosquito Mating as 43-Plant Screen Points to Greener Pest Control
Updated
Updated · Gizmodo · May 15
Yale Finds 1 Garlic Compound Disrupts Mosquito Mating as 43-Plant Screen Points to Greener Pest Control
5 articles · Updated · Gizmodo · May 15
Diallyl disulfide — a sulfur compound in garlic — disrupted mating and egg-laying in Aedes mosquitoes, fruit flies and tsetse flies, Yale researchers reported in a Cell paper published last month.
43 fruits and vegetables were screened for natural pest deterrents, and the garlic compound emerged as one of the strongest candidates for interfering with insect reproductive behavior.
TrpA1, a taste receptor rather than a smell pathway, appears to mediate the effect; the compound also boosted a satiety-related hormone signal that can trigger avoidance of mating and egg-laying.
Aedes mosquitoes and Glossina morsitans spread major human diseases, so the findings point to cheap, plant-based controls that could be safer and more environmentally friendly than conventional pesticides.
Why does garlic's insect 'birth control' halt mosquitoes but prove useless against wasps?
How does the compound that makes garlic repel insects also link to human brain diseases like Alzheimer's?