Researchers have discovered a naturally occurring compound in garlic that halts mating and egg-laying in insects.

Garlic is not a substance that most people consider an aphrodisiac. It turns out that mosquitoes agree.

In fact, the new Yale study finds that garlic also functions as a de facto birth control for mosquitoes and other winged insects. It’s an insight that could lead to eco-friendly pest control strategies.

According to research by the lab of Yale’s John Carlson, the presence of garlic blocks mating in mosquitoes and a variety of fly species. It’s not the pungent odor that’s a turnoff for these pests, the researchers found, but the taste. And the reason lies in a receptor inside their teeny taste organs.

The findings appear in the journal Cell.

“We study flies, including harmless ones like the fruit fly, to try to discover new ways of controlling species that pose danger to humans either by spreading disease or damaging crops,” says Carlson, a professor of molecular, cellular, and developmental biology at Yale.

“In this study, we started with fruit flies and then moved on to other species. And to our surprise, we found a natural compound in garlic that shuts down the mating process in these flies.”

Their method of finding this compound, which they call a “phytoscreen,” could spur new pest control strategies that are environmentally friendly, widely available, and inexpensive. Phyto is Greek for “plant.”

In a Q&A, Carlson explains the role of an enterprising postdoc in initiating this research, how it started with a “fruit fly buffet,” and why Victorian author Bram Stoker had it right about garlic and bloodthirsty creatures: