Picaridin is an insect repellent.1,2,3 It inhibits A. aegypti odorant receptor 2 (AaOR2) or AaOR8 in the presence of their odorant activators, indole and octenol, respectively, expressed in Xenopus oocytes (IC50s = 1,452 and 1,911 ?M, respectively).1 Picaridin reduces the number of entries into a food chamber by female D. melanogaster in an olfactory-based choice assay.2 It acts synergistically with the non-pyrethroid insecticide pyrimiphos methyl to increase mortality of A. gambiae and reduce blood feeding when used at a concentration of 10 g/m2 on nets surrounding guinea pig cages.3 Formulations containing picaridin have been used as insect repellents against flies, mosquitoes, chiggers, ticks, and fleas.
1.Bohbot, J.D., and Dickens, J.C.Insect repellents: Modulators of mosquito odorant receptor activityPLoS One5(8)1-11(2010) 2.Syed, Z., Pelletier, J., Flounders, E., et al.Generic insect repellent detector from the fruit fly Drosophila melanogasterPLoS One6(3)e17705(2011) 3.Pennetier, C., Corbel, V., Boko, P., et al.Synergy between repellents and non-pyrethroid insecticides strongly extends the efficacy of treated nets against Anopheles gambiaeMalar. J.638(2007)