Rancid rumors or Native wisdom: Evaluating the efficacy of animal fats as insect repellents attributed to historic-period Native Americans

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dc.citation.articleNumbere0301677en_US
dc.citation.issueNumber7en_US
dc.citation.journalTitlePLOS ONEen_US
dc.citation.volumeNumber19en_US
dc.contributor.authorEsmaeili, Delaramen_US
dc.contributor.authorSalas, Keyla R.en_US
dc.contributor.authorLuker, Hailey A.en_US
dc.contributor.authorMitra, Soumien_US
dc.contributor.authorGalvan, Claudia J.en_US
dc.contributor.authorHolguin, F. Omaren_US
dc.contributor.authorWhyms, Sophieen_US
dc.contributor.authorHansen, Immo A.en_US
dc.contributor.authorCosta, August G.en_US
dc.date.accessioned2024-09-10T19:29:03Zen_US
dc.date.available2024-09-10T19:29:03Zen_US
dc.date.issued2024en_US
dc.description.abstractLittle is known about Native American adaptations to blood-sucking arthropods prior to and following European contact. Multiple accounts starting in the 16th century suggest that rancid animal grease was employed by Gulf Coast indigenes as a mosquito repellent. Although many Native American ethnobotanical remedies for biting insects have been recorded, the use of animal products for this purpose is not well documented. Moreover, few traditional Native American mosquito repellents have been examined using controlled laboratory methods for repellency testing. In this study, we tested the repellent efficacy of fats derived from alligator, bear, cod, and shark that were aged to various stages of rancidity. Using yellow fever mosquitoes, (Aedes aegypti), we performed an arm-in-cage assay to measure the complete protection times resulted from these fats, when applied to human skin. We used a Y-tube olfactometer assay to evaluate long-distance repellency and tested tick-repellency in a crawling assay. Our results suggest that rancid animal fats from cod, bear, and alligator are potent albeit short-lived mosquito repellents. We found that both rancid and fresh fats do not repel ticks. Our findings show the validity of traditional ethnozoological knowledge of Native American people and support aspects of the ethnohistorical record.en_US
dc.identifier.citationEsmaeili, D., Salas, K. R., Luker, H. A., Mitra, S., Galvan, C. J., Holguin, F. O., Whyms, S., Hansen, I. A., & Costa, A. G. (2024). Rancid rumors or Native wisdom: Evaluating the efficacy of animal fats as insect repellents attributed to historic-period Native Americans. PLOS ONE, 19(7), e0301677. https://doi.org/10.1371/journal.pone.0301677en_US
dc.identifier.digitaljournal-pone-0301677en_US
dc.identifier.doihttps://doi.org/10.1371/journal.pone.0301677en_US
dc.identifier.urihttps://hdl.handle.net/1911/117865en_US
dc.language.isoengen_US
dc.publisherPublic Library of Scienceen_US
dc.rightsExcept where otherwise noted, this work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution (CC BY) license.  Permission to reuse, publish, or reproduce the work beyond the terms of the license or beyond the bounds of fair use or other exemptions to copyright law must be obtained from the copyright holder.en_US
dc.rights.urihttps://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/en_US
dc.titleRancid rumors or Native wisdom: Evaluating the efficacy of animal fats as insect repellents attributed to historic-period Native Americansen_US
dc.typeJournal articleen_US
dc.type.dcmiTexten_US
dc.type.publicationpublisher versionen_US
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