Imagine dousing yourself with mosquito repellent at the start of summer and remaining bite-free nearly all season long!

Researchers in Gainesville, Fla., have identified several potent mosquito repellents that keep bugs from biting for up to 73 days — more than three times longer than the current gold standard, N,N-diethyl-m-toluamide, better known as DEET.  DEET is the world’s most widely used bug repellent.

The experiment showed that “most of these novel acylpiperidines were equivalent to or better than DEET in duration of protection,” Katritzky writes in the journal article. His team reports that DEET repelled the mosquitoes for 17.5 days.  Some of the pepper-based compounds lasted up to 73 days.

The team published their findings in the May 27, 2008 issue of Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences.

But because bug sprays wear off with water and washings, it’s unlikely you’d be able to spray once and keep bugs off all summer — unless of course you never shower, sweat, or swim.  You should always reapply insect repellents after such activities.  However, longer-lasting mosquito repellents are favorable, because many of us forget to reapply and don’t use protection when we need it — and chances are mosquitoes are around even when you don’t see them.  Using insect repellent helps protect you against dangerous mosquito-borne diseases such as West Nile virus and malaria.