Secretion Repels Mosquitoes

a dark brown indian bison guar look toward the camera surrounded by jungle leaves

Biological Strategy

Guar

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Image: Syed Ahmad / Unsplash / Free non-commercial use

Protect From Animals

Animals–organisms that range from microscopic to larger than a bus–embody a wide variety of harms to living systems, including other animals. They threaten through predation, herbivory, defense, and parasitism, and they compete for resources such as water, nutrients, and space. Any given living organism commonly faces threats from a variety of animals, requiring strategies that effectively defend from each. Trout and other bony fish, for example, escape predators by having scales made of very thin, flake-like pieces of bone covered with slippery mucus. They also have behavioral strategies such as camouflage, fast swimming, and twisting and turning to achieve release from a predator’s grip.

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Mammals

Class Mammalia (“breast”): Bats, cats, whales, horses, humans

Mammals make up less than 1% of all animals on earth, but they include some of the most well-known species. We know first-hand some of the characteristics that make mammals unique, like having hair, being able to sweat, and producing milk through mammary glands. Another critical shared feature is a set of highly-specialized teeth. Unlike sharks or alligators, for example, whose teeth are generally all the same size and shape, mammals have differently shaped teeth in different areas of the jaws to target specific foods or foraging strategies.

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The skin of the gaur deters landing and feeding by mosquitoes by secreting an oily substance, a novel 18-carbon acid.

Image: Tu7uh /

“Gaur acid (…) was recently isolated from the oily secretion of the gaur (B. frontalis), a wild ox in Asia, by Oliver et al.[9, 10] This 18-carbon acid is thought to serve as a landing and feeding deterrent for the yellow-fever mosquito (Aedes aegypti).” (Evans 2004)

Last Updated August 18, 2016

References

Journal article

Stereodivergent Construction of Cyclic Ethers by a Regioselective and Enantiospecific Rhodium-Catalyzed Allylic Etherification: Total Synthesis of Gaur Acid

Angewandte Chemie | 14/09/2004 | P. Andrew Evans, David K. Leahy, William J. Andrews, Daisuke Uraguchi

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