Are hydrothermal vents oases for parasitic protists?

mosquitoes is well known. As Hoffman and Miller comment, ‘We suggest a combination of directed wind and volatile repellent might be developed as a mosquito deterrent strategy for the backyard setting’ [3]. Indeed, the combination of DEET and permethrin in a coconut base (Mosbar) as a malaria control measure looks promising (M. Rowlands et al., unpublished). Volatile oils from plants can serve as effective repellents [4,5] and these oils can be burnt in lamps [6]. The use of volatile oils are being studied by J. Lines and M. Rowlands (London School of Tropical Medicine and Hygiene, UK) as part of the malaria programme funded by the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation (http://www.gatesfoundation.org/). Given that the Egyptians had used both towers [7,8] and impregnated nets to avoid mosquitoes, and that they knew a thing or two about herbs, the rediscovery of Kiki and an examination of its possible repellent effects might seem apposite. References 1 Lindsay, S.W. et al. (2002) Reducing malaria by mosquito-proofing houses. Trends Parasitol. 18, 510–514 2 Herodotus (1996) Herodotus. The Histories, Penguin 3 Hoffmann, E.J. and Miller, J.R. (2002) Reduction of mosquito (Diptera: Culicidae) attacks on a human subject by combination of wind and vapor-phase DEET repellent. J. Med. Entomol. 39, 935–938 4 Govere, J. et al. (2000) Local plants as repellents against Anopheles arabiensis, in Mpumalanga Province, South Africa. Cent. Afr. J. Med. 46, 213–216 5 Tawatsin, A. et al. (2001) Repellency of volatile oils from plants against three mosquito vectors. J. Vector Ecol. 26, 76–82 6 Valecha, N. et al. (1996) Preliminary evaluation of safety aspects of neem oil in kerosene lamp. Indian J. Malariol. 33, 139–143 7 Charlwood, J.D. et al. (1984) Raised platforms reduce mosquito bites. Trans. R. Soc. Trop. Med. Hyg. 78, 141–142 8 Lindsay, S.W. and Janneh, L.M. (1989) Preliminary field trials of personal protection against mosquitoes in The Gambia using deet or permethrin soap, compared with other methods. Med. Vet. Entomol. 3, 97–100