ABSTRACT

A. INTRODUCTION* Since long before the advent of synthetic chemicals, people have been using plants and

plant-derived substances to try to repel or kill mosquitoes and other domestic pest insects. The Ainu people1 of Hokkaido, Japan, and the Micmac Indians2 of Newfoundland both wore leggings of sedge, bark, or cloth to reduce insect biting nuisance which tends to be concentrated around the lower legs. The ancient Chinese classics contain many prescriptions for repellents against mosquitoes and other blood-sucking flies. According to Roark,3 nearly 1200 plants have been listed in the literature as of potential insecticidal value. Most remain to be investigated either chemically or biologically. The work which has been done tends to fall into two categories: the analytic and the ethnobotanical.