Nonanal + CO2 = Olfactory Dinner Bell
November 4, 2009
What, exactly, do mosquitos find so irresistible in our human signature scent?
The prevailing wisdom has been that mosquitoes sniff out carbon dioxide and a complex variety of the 300+ odorants present in human sweat to choose the tastiest victims (from up to 100 feet away!), but a new study conducted last month at the University of California Davis may have isolated a single naturally produced odor that, when combined with carbon dioxide, rings the dinner bell for hungry insects.
The attractant, says entomology professor Walter Leal and postdoctoral researcher Zain Syed, is a powerful semiochemical called nonanal.
“Nonanal is how they find us,” says Dr. Leal. “The antennae of the culex quinquefasciatus (mosquitoes) are highly developed to detect even extremely low concentrations of nonanal.”
Leal and Syed found that nonanal acts synergistically with carbon dioxide, a known mosquito attractant. “We baited mosquito traps with a combination of nonanal and carbon dioxide and we were drawing in as many as 2,000 a night,” explained Syed. “Nonanal, in combination with carbon dioxide, increased trap captures by more than 50 percent, compared to traps baited with carbon dioxide alone.”
I want to buy this stuff to bait my mosquito magnet with it. Does anyone sell this to the public? thanks ahead of time
Phil Chao MD - mriphysician
Hi Philip. A google search for “nonanal+buy” brought up about a half-dozen Chinese suppliers (usually in extremely large quantities, i.e. 50 gallon drums). Not knowing where you are located, it’d probably be a good idea to email one of these suppliers and inquire as to the legality of ordering/possessing nonanal in your area.
Many thanks for writing!