Description
Picaridin is an insect repellent. 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 (IC
50s = 1,452 and 1,911 μM, respectively). Picaridin reduces the number of entries into a food chamber by female
D. melanogaster in an olfactory-based choice assay. 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/m
2 on nets surrounding guinea pig cages. Formulations containing picaridin have been used as insect repellents against flies, mosquitoes, chiggers, ticks, and fleas.