Sunday, May 11, 2014

Catnip as Insect and Rat Repellent

Catnip as Insect and Rat Repellent
There is a long tradition of planting catnip near a house or barn to repel mice and rats and to keep insects away.

Research has shown that cockroaches and termites are repelled by Catnip.

Catnip has been used where cat sleep to help keep fleas away. The effect on cats only lasts for a few minutes and the cat is not affected after this time. The catnip needs to be regularly refreshed with new grass to keep it working.

More recently, research done at Iowa State University, showed that catnip was 10 times more effective at repelling mosquitoes than DEET.

In the 1960s, Cornell University naturalist Thomas Eisner reported that catnip oil repels insects (Science 1964, 146, 1318). The paper suggested that nepetalactone defends against plant-eating insects.

Chemical And Engineering News article on catnip including chemical structure.
Read more of this article on catnip -http://www.christinedemerchant.com/catnip_for_humans.html

No comments:

Post a Comment