Field test of a lemon eucalyptus repellent against Leptoconops biting midges

We tested a lemon eucalyptus-based repellent against the biting midge Leptoconops carteri Hoffman in the Central Valley of California. This relatively new active ingredient has demonstrated high efficacy in a number of studies with mosquitoes. Ten subjects tested spray and lotion formulations on 2 consecutive days, along with a deet-positive control and an untreated control, with 6 h of continuous exposure per treatment. Half of the eucalyptus subjects received no bites, and the true median protection time probably exceeded the test duration.