Do Cougars like catnip?

Roger Craik
Maple Ridge BC
rcraik at home.com

----- Original Message -----
From: Bob Mauritsen <bluetooth at csi.com>
To: tweeters <tweeters at u.washington.edu>
Sent: Saturday, 11 September, 1999 12:31 AM
Subject: No more DEET?


> I don't know how many on Tweeters read Science News, but
> for those who don't, the following article (SN, V156, Sept 4, 1999)
> might engender some tentative hopefulness. The relevant part
> is at the end.
>
> Bob Mauritsen
>
>
> Roaches Don't Go Crazy Over Catnip
>
> A feline friend may go into ecstasy over a whiff of catnip, but
> the same odor will send a cockroach skittering away, according to
> entomologists at Iowa State University in Ames. Their finding may
> lead to new roach repellents based on an active compound found in
> the catnip herb, Nepeta cataria.
>
> Chris J. Peterson and Joel R. Coats tested the reaction of German
> cockroaches to two forms of nepetalactone, the herbal compound that
> drives cats wild. The researchers gave insects a choice of walking
> on either a piece of paper treated with nepetalactone or untreated
> paper. For driving away roaches, one form of the compound was 100
> times as effective as deet, an ingredient found in commercial insect
> repellents. Removing roaches' antennas rendered them indifferent
> to nepetalactone, revealing that receptors on those structures,
> rather than on their feet or mouthparts, respond to the compound.
>
> The researchers are now testing nepetalactone's effect on mosquitoes.
> An insect repellent based on catnip could be safe to use on people and
> have a more pleasant smell than the ones currently on the market
> do. The only obvious drawback, they note, is that although such a
> product would keep insects at bay, it might draw unwanted attention
> from cats.
>
>