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Does Peppermint Oil Attract Bugs (Ants, Bees, Bears, Etc.)?

Peppermint is an indigenous herb plant that has various beneficial qualities. Multiple medicinal products such as – methanol, menthone, etc., are extracted from the peppermint plant.

Peppermint also has culinary applications, and oil produced from peppermint is used as a food flavoring agent. Moreover, peppermint oil has medicinal properties.

There is a major curiosity regarding whether or peppermint oil attracts bugs. This article will provide an in-depth answer and offer you deep insights into the beneficial qualities of peppermint oils.

Does peppermint oil attract bugs?

Peppermint oil doesn’t attract bugs; instead, it repels ants, bees, bears, spiders. Flies, wasps, etc. Peppermint oil works as a natural insect repellent agent. And the oil is not chemically harmful to humans and other animals. That’s why peppermint oil can be used to control pernicious insects.

Peppermint oil doesn’t attract insects and bugs; instead, it works as a repellent against various pernicious bugs and animals. Peppermint is a medicinal herb plant that has several beneficial usages. Oil extracted from peppermint also contains medicinal values.

Peppermint oil contains various chemical compounds that work as a repellent against various insects and animals, including ants, bees, bears, spiders, flies, wasps, etc. For this reason, peppermint oil functions as a natural repellent agent.

The repellent property of peppermint oil against some bugs and animals are shortly explained –

Ants:

Peppermint oil and mint leaves are prominent repellents against ants. A few drops of peppermint oil near the ant nest will keep them away from your house.

Bees: 

Peppermint oil can be used to detour honey bees from your houses and properties. Peppermint oil isn’t harmful to humans, and it provides distinctive fragrances to humans. Moreover, peppermint oil will not harm the bees.

Roaches:

Peppermint oil works as a roaches repellent and is a potent roaches repeller. Peppermint oil contains menthone. This chemical compound is well known for its poisonous activity towards cockroaches. 

Roaches stay away from the scent of mint and mint oil for this reason. Applying peppermint oil to your products is a natural way to get rid of cockroaches.

Spiders:

Peppermint oil is one of the ingredients in a spider repellent spray.  Placing peppermint plants in strategic areas of the house will repel the spiders. A few drops of peppermint oil will be enough to repel spiders from your house.

Flies:

Peppermint oil is used as a natural fly deterrent. Flies stay away from the scent of peppermint, and spraying a few drops of peppermint oil will repel all the flies from your surrounding area.

Wasp:

Peppermint oil is well known for its natural wasp repellent property. A mixture of a few drops of peppermint oil along with one or two tablespoons of dish soap will repel the wasps.

You must dilute the solution in a spray bottle with water and spray the peppermint oil solution strategically. Spraying will make the wasps think twice before entering your house.

Mosquitos:

Peppermint oil works very well against mosquitos. The scent of peppermint is attractive to humans, but it repels mosquitos from residential areas and houses.

Gnats:

The scent of peppermint oil repels Gnats and fruit flies. That’s why a solution of peppermint oil mixed with water is used to distract and repel gnats and fruit flies from the houses.

Do bugs dislike peppermint?

Bugs dislike peppermint. Especially, bugs dislike the scent of peppermint and peppermint oil.

Menthone and methanol are two insect repellent compounds that are extracted from the leaves of peppermint. The scent of peppermint causes unbearable irritation to most insects.

Insects release signaling elements from their body when they sense methanol and menthone. The body of the insects goes into flight or fight modes in the presence of menthone.

Sticky bug releases milky compounds behind from its head to cover up the scent of peppermint. Sticky bug exhibits exactly similar activity to fight predators.

Why do bugs dislike peppermint?

Bugs do not like peppermint and peppermint oil. Peppermint is a natural herb plant and has various beneficial effects. Oil extracted from the peppermint works as an effective insect repellent.

Bugs do not like peppermint for various reasons. Some are mentioned hereafter –

Menthol:

The main component in the peppermint is hexahydrothymol. Hexahydrothymol is commonly known as menthol. Menthol works as a natural insect repellent.

Menthone and methanol:

Other chemical compounds such as menthone and methanol extracted from the peppermint plant are poisonous to bugs. Those elements collapse the biological system of the insects.

Flight or fight responses:

The presence of peppermint initiates severe flight or fight responses in the insect’s body.

Basically, the components of Peppermint made it work as an insecticidal agent. So that, bugs usually initiate protective behavior into their bodies when in contact with peppermint.

How to use peppermint oil to attract bugs?

Peppermint oil doesn’t attract bugs; instead, it has insect repellent properties. The Peppermint plant works as a natural bug repellent.

Bugs such as mosquitos, spiders, cockroaches, flies, wasps, bees, ants, etc., dislike the scent of peppermint. Chemical compounds present in the peppermint are toxic to the biological system of insects.

You have to apply peppermint oil properly in order to get the desired result. Step by step procedures to use peppermint to repel bugs are stated hereafter –

Peppermint oil and water mixture:

You first have to dilute the peppermint oil with moderately hot water. Per ounce of water is used to dilute 5 to 10 drops of peppermint oil. Normal tap water can also be used to dilute the oil.

Peppermint oil is an highly potent reagent, and the direct use of undiluted peppermint oil can have some side effects. Moreover, it isn’t very feasible to use 100% peppermint oil.

Make a peppermint oil and soap solution:

You can add 3 to 6 drops of soaps into the diluted peppermint oil solution. The soap and peppermint oil mixture works effectively against several insects.

Spray peppermint oil in strategic places:

Place the peppermint oil solution mixture into a spray bottle. You can use a 16-ounce spray bottle for this.

And your peppermint oil solution is ready to use, and you can apply the oil in strategic places to repel pernicious insects from your house.

What essential oils attract bugs?

Essential oils are known for their natural pest-controlling properties. Many essential oils attract bugs and other exhibit insect repellent properties. Essential oils, for example – lemon oil, cinnamon oil, melissa oil, work as a bug attractant.

Lemon oil, cinnamon oil, and Melissa oil attract the following bugs –

Lemon oil:

Lemon oil is an essential oil. Lemon oil contains terpenes and geraniol as major chemical compounds. Terpenes and geraniol elements have been shown to attract bugs.

Lemon oil is known for its usage for the pest attraction into the trap. Putting one or two drops on the trap every day will increase the bug attraction toward the trap.

Cinnamon oil:

Cinnamon oil is extracted from the Cinnamonum tree. Cinnamon oil contains geraniol, which has bug attractant properties. One or two drops of cinnamon oil on the trap will attract thrips, leaf miners, fungus gnats, Japanese beetles.

Melissa oil:

Melissa oil is also known as Lemon Balm oil. Terpene is a primary compound of Melissa oil, and it has been shown bug attractant properties. Placing two to three drops of Melissa oil every 2 to 3 days on your traps will attract insects towards the trap.

How long will peppermint oil keep bugs away?

Peppermint oil will keep bugs such as mosquitos and cockroaches away for up to 2 to 3 hours. Using peppermint oil in one arm will protect both arms from the mosquito invasion, and it will keep the mosquitos away for up to 150 minutes.

Essential oils such as peppermint oil, cinnamon oil, lemon oil are highly volatile. That’s why they don’t protect for a long period of time. Essential oil provides 18 to 30 minutes of protection over every single usage.

Peppermint oil is diluted with water, and other ingredients are mixed with the diluted peppermint oil to increase the solution. The addition of other ingredients can improve peppermint oil’s effectiveness against bugs.

Do bugs dislike peppermint plants?

Bugs do not like peppermint plants. The Peppermint plant is a medicinal herb. It has numerous medicinal values. Among them, the peppermint plant produces several compounds that are used as an insecticide.

Peppermint plant releases bug repellent scent. Bugs, especially ants, mosquitos, roaches, flies, etc., dislike the fragrance of peppermint and stay away from the plant.

Moreover, peppermint plants produce chemical compounds, for example- menthol and menthone. Menthol and menthone are two chemical elements that work as an efficient bug repellent.

Applying the peppermint oil extract on bugs leads to the collapse of their natural biological system and eventually lose its life. That’s why bugs dislike peppermint plants.

Final thoughts

Peppermint oil doesn’t attract bugs. Rather it works as an insect repellent. The chemical elements present in the peppermint oil are effective bug repellent agents. Moreover, peppermint isn’t harmful to humans and domestic animals. It is safe to apply peppermint oil as a bug-controlling agent.