We often get asked if the local natives had to deal with mosquitoes or what they used to repel mosquitoes.
The first answer, is yes. Native people had to cope with mosquitoes as well as other biting insects like ticks and horseflies. It was a bit different during their time though. Natives were attentive curators of their landscape. Our current community has drainage ditches and housing developments in a way that encourages standing water. Mosquito mom’s require that standing water to breed. And species like the Psorophora cilata, the largest mosquito in the United States? Is happiest after a storm (much like we’ve been seeing the past few weeks here)
We also have a much wider variety of species compared to the original native population. Most infamous are the Aedes group of mosquitoes, including the Asian Tiger and Yellow Fever mosquitoes, with they’re larger size and bright white striping.
But even the local species were still a pain, so what did they do?
One plant that was frequently used as an insect repellant was the American Beauty Berry! These are native to the area and were also used as a food source! Just be careful before deciding to try it on your own as some people experience allergic reactions.
We found this article that went into more detail and encourage you to visit their link to learn more, but we’ll add some of the juicy bits:
Crush beautyberry leaves in your hand and rub them on yourself. (Or make a beautyberry leaf salve/lotion.) The result: a natural, highly effective single-ingredient mosquito and tick repellent. No, this isn’t just a folk remedy. This information comes courtesy of USDA researchers. Excerpt:
Traditional folklore remedies many times are found to lead nowhere following scientific research,” he [Charles Cantrell, an ARS chemist in Oxford] continued. “The beautyberry plant and its ability to repel mosquitoes is an exception. We actually identified naturally occurring chemicals in the plant responsible for this activity.”
Three repellent chemicals were extracted during the 12-month study: callicarpenal, intermedeol and spathulenol. The research concluded that all three chemicals repulse mosquitoes known to transmit yellow fever and malaria.
Tyrant Farms, https://www.tyrantfarms.com/how-to-use-american-beautyberries-as-food-and-mosquito-repellent/