Compositions for inhibiting the scent tracking ability of mosquitoes in environmentally defined three dimensional spaces

Abstract

Composition for inhibiting the ability of mosquitoes to locate a target by olfactory emissions of the target comprise a composition of at least one inhibiting compound selected from the group consisting of 3-methyl-1-alkene-3-ols of the formula: and 3-methyl-1-alkyn-3-ols of the formula: wherein R 1 and R 2 are each independently a saturated or unsaturated aliphatic hydrocarbon group containing from 1 to about 12 carbon atoms, in a vehicle base that is a porous or waxy medium. The composition being capable of dispensing the inhibiting compound in an amount effective to inhibit the ability of mosquitoes to sense a target in a three dimensional environmental space.

We claim:  
     
         1 . A composition for inhibiting the ability of mosquitoes to sense a target within a three dimensional environmental space having a land or base surface area, the composition comprising: 
 (A) at least one inhibiting compound selected from the group consisting of 3-methyl-1-alkene-3-ols of the formula:                        and 3-methyl-1-alkyn-3-ols of the formula:                        wherein R 1  and R 2  are each independently a saturated or unsaturated aliphatic hydrocarbon group containing from 1 to about 12 carbon atoms, in        (B) a base vehicle comprising a porous or waxy medium, the composition being capable of dispensing from the composition into the atmosphere of the three dimensional space the at least one inhibiting compound in an amount sufficient to provide an inhibiting effective amount of the at least one inhibiting compound sufficient to inhibit the ability of mosquitoes to sense a target in the three dimensional environmental space.    
     
     
         2 . The composition according to  claim 1 , wherein the composition is sufficient to provide in the atmosphere an inhibiting effective amount of the at least one inhibiting compound ranging from about 0.000005 g/hr/ft 2  to about 0.0004 g/hr/ft 2  per square footage of the land or base surface area of the three dimensional environmental space.  
     
     
         3 . The composition according to  claim 1 , wherein the composition is sufficient to provide in the atmosphere an inhibiting effective amount of the at least one inhibiting compound ranging from about 0.00015 g/hr/ft2 to about 0.0002 g/hr/t 2  per square footage of the land or base surface area of the three dimensional environmental space.  
     
     
         4 . The composition according to  claim 1 , wherein the at least one inhibiting compound is selected from nerolidol, 3-methyl-1-octen-3-ol, linalool and dehydrolinalool.  
     
     
         5 . The composition according to  claim 1 , wherein the at least one inhibiting compound comprises linalool.  
     
     
         6 . The composition according to  claim 1 , wherein the at least one inhibiting compound comprises dehydrolinalool.  
     
     
         7 . The composition according to  claim 1 , wherein the composition is capable of dispensing the at least one inhibiting compound into the atmosphere by a method selected from volatilization, evaporation, atomization and ionic dispersion of the at least one inhibiting compound.  
     
     
         8 . The composition according to  claim 7 , wherein the base vehicle is a porous medium and the composition is capable of dispensing the at least one inhibiting compound by fan-driven evaporation of the at least one inhibiting compound.  
     
     
         9 . The composition according to  claim 7 , wherein the base vehicle is a waxy medium and the composition is capable of dispensing the at least one inhibiting compound by fan-driven evaporation of the at least one inhibiting compound.  
     
     
         10 . The composition according to  claim 7 , wherein the composition is capable of dispensing the at least one inhibiting compound by atomization of the at least one inhibiting compound.  
     
     
         11 . The composition according to  claim 7 , wherein the composition is capable of dispensing the at least one inhibiting compound by ionic dispersion of the at least one inhibiting compound.  
     
     
         12 . The composition according to  claim 5 , wherein the vehicle is a porous medium and the linalool in the composition is capable of being dispensed from the composition by fan-driven evaporation of the linalool.  
     
     
         13 . The composition according to  claim 5 , wherein the vehicle is a waxy medium and the linalool in the composition is capable of being dispensed from the composition by fan-driven evaporation of the linalool  
     
     
         14 . The composition according to  claim 5 , wherein the linalool in the composition is capable of being dispensed from the composition by atomization of the linalool.  
     
     
         15 . The composition according to  claim 5 , wherein the linalool in the composition is capable of being dispensed from the composition by ionic dispersion of the linalool.  
     
     
         16 . The composition according to  claim 6 , wherein vehicle is a porous medium and the dehydrolinalool in the composition is capable of being dispensed from the composition by fan-driven evaporation of the dehydrolinalool.  
     
     
         17 . The composition according to  claim 6 , wherein the vehicle is a waxy medium and the dehydrolinalool in the composition is capable of being dispensed from the composition by fan-driven evaporation of the dehydrolinalool.  
     
     
         18 . The composition according to  claim 6 , wherein the dehydrolinalool in the composition is capable of being dispensed from the composition by atomization of the dehydrolinalool.  
     
     
         19 . The composition according to  claim 6 , wherein the dehydrolinalool in the composition is capable of being dispensed from the composition by ionic dispersion of the dehydrolinalool.