The Effect of Solanum lycopersicum, Allium sativum, and Mentha piperita as Deterrents on Drosophila melanogaster
School Name
Spring Valley High School
Grade Level
10th Grade
Presentation Topic
Zoology
Presentation Type
Non-Mentored
Abstract
Around the world, mosquitoes cause millions of deaths every year. In order to deter these pesky insects, scientists have found and created several chemicals that are commonly used in commercially available insect repellents. These chemicals are, unfortunately, often corrosive and harmful to the environment. Also, some of the countries that are plagued by mosquito borne illnesses do not have access to these commercially available insect repellents. The purpose of this project was to find a natural resource that could be used as an insect repellent. Three potential natural insect repellents were chosen: Solanum lycopersicum (common tomato), Allium sativum (common garlic), and Mentha piperita (common peppermint). It was hypothesized that Allium sativum would repel the highest percentage of Drosophila melanogaster from an attractant. Drosophila melanogaster were placed in a test chamber with two attached, alternative feeding chambers and had to choose between feeding chambers containing an attractant or the attractant in combination with the potential repellent. A 2 sample z test, with a critical value of -1.65, was used to analyze the results. None of the potential repellents were able to support the claim that fewer Drosophila would choose the chamber containing the potential repellent because in all cases, the p value was higher than the alpha value of 0.05, but garlic had the lowest z score of -0.36. Allium sativum was the closest to working as a repellent, but there was not enough evidence to support the claim that it repelled Drosophila.
Recommended Citation
McCallum, Jane, "The Effect of Solanum lycopersicum, Allium sativum, and Mentha piperita as Deterrents on Drosophila melanogaster" (2018). South Carolina Junior Academy of Science. 206.
https://scholarexchange.furman.edu/scjas/2018/all/206
Location
Neville 122
Start Date
4-14-2018 10:00 AM
Presentation Format
Oral and Written
The Effect of Solanum lycopersicum, Allium sativum, and Mentha piperita as Deterrents on Drosophila melanogaster
Neville 122
Around the world, mosquitoes cause millions of deaths every year. In order to deter these pesky insects, scientists have found and created several chemicals that are commonly used in commercially available insect repellents. These chemicals are, unfortunately, often corrosive and harmful to the environment. Also, some of the countries that are plagued by mosquito borne illnesses do not have access to these commercially available insect repellents. The purpose of this project was to find a natural resource that could be used as an insect repellent. Three potential natural insect repellents were chosen: Solanum lycopersicum (common tomato), Allium sativum (common garlic), and Mentha piperita (common peppermint). It was hypothesized that Allium sativum would repel the highest percentage of Drosophila melanogaster from an attractant. Drosophila melanogaster were placed in a test chamber with two attached, alternative feeding chambers and had to choose between feeding chambers containing an attractant or the attractant in combination with the potential repellent. A 2 sample z test, with a critical value of -1.65, was used to analyze the results. None of the potential repellents were able to support the claim that fewer Drosophila would choose the chamber containing the potential repellent because in all cases, the p value was higher than the alpha value of 0.05, but garlic had the lowest z score of -0.36. Allium sativum was the closest to working as a repellent, but there was not enough evidence to support the claim that it repelled Drosophila.
