Interesting but Impractical Mosquito repellent

Its been much too hot for mosquitoes lately but they should be showing up again soon as the fog rolls in and temperatures cool a bit. Just in time is an paper from Australia showing that frog secretions are great mosquito repellent, and may serve as a DEET alternative sometime in the future. Only one problem

But human tests for a frog skin-based repellent haven't been carried out, and Williams and his team already foresee‚—or foresmell‚—some obstacles to making a commercial product.

"We tried putting some of the chemicals from frog skin in a lotion," he said, "but the odor was too strong."

Some of the frogs' secretions smell of rotting meat, the team reports. Others give off aromas of nuts or thyme leaves.

The researchers say the strong smell is what repels biting insects.

Not too promising. I remember from an Organic Chemistry class a professor telling us about the active molecule in catnip, nepetalactone, being 10 times more effective in repelling mosquitoes than DEET, his only concern was it was never tested in the presence of Mt. Lions. So here in Northern California, one may just be substituting one bit for another. Again, maybe not so promising although this product is currently on the market.

UPDATE: Edited for typos