{"status":"ok","message-type":"work","message-version":"1.0.0","message":{"indexed":{"date-parts":[[2026,7,30]],"date-time":"2026-07-30T18:23:38Z","timestamp":1785435818036,"version":"3.56.0"},"reference-count":45,"publisher":"MDPI AG","issue":"7","license":[{"start":{"date-parts":[[2026,7,7]],"date-time":"2026-07-07T00:00:00Z","timestamp":1783382400000},"content-version":"vor","delay-in-days":0,"URL":"https:\/\/creativecommons.org\/licenses\/by\/4.0\/"}],"funder":[{"name":"Deployed Warfighter Protection (DWFP) Program","award":["W911QY1910007"],"award-info":[{"award-number":["W911QY1910007"]}]},{"DOI":"10.13039\/100005825","name":"National Institute of Food and Agriculture, U.S. Department of Agriculture","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","award":["7006476"],"award-info":[{"award-number":["7006476"]}],"id":[{"id":"10.13039\/100005825","id-type":"DOI","asserted-by":"crossref"}]},{"award":["7006476"],"award-info":[{"award-number":["7006476"]}],"id":[{"id":"https:\/\/ror.org\/01na82s61","id-type":"ROR","asserted-by":"publisher"}]},{"name":"NJ Hatch","award":["NJ12170"],"award-info":[{"award-number":["NJ12170"]}]}],"content-domain":{"domain":[],"crossmark-restriction":false},"short-container-title":["Insects"],"abstract":"<jats:p>The common bed bug (Cimex lectularius L.) is an obligate blood-feeding insect that spreads easily through human activity. Catnip (Nepeta cataria L.) oil has emerged as a promising natural repellent for bed bugs, but previous studies have been limited to laboratory conditions. In this study, we assessed the effectiveness of a catnip-based formulation (20% catnip CCC oil: 10% catnip oil cultivar CR9, 5% carvacrol, 5% citronellol) applied to fabric against bed bugs using simulated field tests, a human finger stimulus test, and field trials. N-Diethyl-meta-toluamide (DEET) was included as a benchmark in the simulated field test. In these tests, both 20% catnip CCC oil and 20% DEET achieved &gt;94% repellency within 24 h, with comparable performance after 2\u20133 d of aging. After 5 d, 20% catnip CCC oil showed significantly reduced repellency compared to DEET. In the human finger stimulus test, 20% catnip CCC oil remained effective for up to 6 d, whereas in infested apartments, significant repellency lasted only one day. These findings suggest that 20% catnip CCC oil applied to fabric can provide short-term protection against bed bug introductions under natural conditions. Future work should explore optimized barrier dimensions and slow-release formulations to extend efficacy.<\/jats:p>","DOI":"10.3390\/insects17070705","type":"journal-article","created":{"date-parts":[[2026,7,9]],"date-time":"2026-07-09T11:55:32Z","timestamp":1783598132000},"page":"705","update-policy":"https:\/\/doi.org\/10.3390\/mdpi_crossmark_policy","source":"Crossref","is-referenced-by-count":0,"title":["Catnip Oil, Monoterpenes Carvacrol, and Citronellol as an Effective Repellent Against Cimex lectularius (Hemiptera: Cimicidae)"],"prefix":"10.3390","volume":"17","author":[{"ORCID":"https:\/\/orcid.org\/0000-0001-6346-9656","authenticated-orcid":false,"given":"Souvic","family":"Sarker","sequence":"first","affiliation":[{"name":"Department of Entomology, Rutgers, The State University of New Jersey, New Brunswick, NJ 08901, USA"}],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]},{"given":"Jin-Jia","family":"Yu","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"Department of Entomology, Rutgers, The State University of New Jersey, New Brunswick, NJ 08901, USA"}],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]},{"given":"Qingli","family":"Wu","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"Department of Plant Biology, Rutgers, The State University of New Jersey, New Brunswick, NJ 08901, USA"}],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]},{"ORCID":"https:\/\/orcid.org\/0000-0001-6830-2003","authenticated-orcid":false,"given":"James E.","family":"Simon","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"Department of Plant Biology, Rutgers, The State University of New Jersey, New Brunswick, NJ 08901, USA"}],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]},{"ORCID":"https:\/\/orcid.org\/0000-0003-0214-7236","authenticated-orcid":false,"given":"Changlu","family":"Wang","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"Department of Entomology, Rutgers, The State University of New Jersey, New Brunswick, NJ 08901, USA"}],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]}],"member":"1968","published-online":{"date-parts":[[2026,7,7]]},"reference":[{"key":"ref_1","first-page":"175","article-title":"Insecticide resistance in the bed bug: A factor in the pest\u2019s sudden resurgence?","volume":"44","author":"Romero","year":"2007","journal-title":"J. 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