# Mosquito ## Facts | | | |---|---| | Founded | 1993 | | Origin | Germany | | Headquarters | Hillscheid | | Owner | WEPA Apothekenbedarf GmbH & Co KG | | Status | Active | | Distribution | Pharmacy | | Website | https://www.mosquito.de/ | Mosquito, styled mosquito® by its maker, is a German brand of products for protection against and treatment of mosquitoes, ticks and head lice. It belongs to WEPA Apothekenbedarf GmbH & Co KG, a family-owned pharmacy-supply company based in Hillscheid in the Westerwald region, which introduced it in 1993 as one of several in-house brands [8]. The range spans skin-applied repellent sprays, a head-lice shampoo classed as a medical device, a lice-repellent spray, and small tools such as lice combs, tick tweezers and devices for treating insect bites. The company describes Mosquito as "a quality brand of WEPA Apothekenbedarf" and sells it exclusively through pharmacies [1]. Its best-known product, a ten-minute head-lice shampoo launched in 2014, placed third in a German pharma-marketing award for over-the-counter launches the following year, and has since been reviewed by the German consumer testers ÖKO-TEST and Stiftung Warentest. The brand remains active, with a new tropical-strength repellent added in 2025. ## Origin & founders No individual founder is named for Mosquito. It was created inside an existing company rather than by an entrepreneur, and its history is tied to that of its owner. WEPA Apothekenbedarf traces itself to Paulus & Thewalt, a firm founded by Jean Paulus with his brother-in-law Albert Thewalt in Höhr, in the Westerwald, which began trading in 1883. By the 1890s it supplied pharmacies with apparatus, containers and utensils and specialised in fitting out pharmacy interiors. A 1957 merger with Georg Wenderoth of Kassel produced the WEPA name, and the company has stayed in the founding family's hands throughout its history [7]. Axel Ciesielski, a great-grandson of Jean Paulus, became sole managing director in 1984 and introduced the company's aponorm brand that year. In 1993, according to the company's own timeline, "mosquito® Parasitenschutz" was launched alongside further in-house brands [8]. The original name, which translates as "parasite protection", reflects the brand's focus from the start. ## History & milestones Mosquito's documented history is largely a sequence of product introductions. In May 2013 WEPA announced an insect-repellent foam for pharmacies, based on p-menthane-3,8-diol from lemon eucalyptus and using plain air rather than a gas as the propellant. The announcement, issued by WEPA through a pharmacy trade-news service, described Mosquito as "biological parasite protection from the pharmacy" and said the foam was suitable for children from three months [10]. The foam is no longer part of the current range. In summer 2014 the company introduced Mosquito med Läuse-Shampoo 10, a head-lice treatment applied once for ten minutes. In June 2015 it took third place in the category "Best OTC new launch 2015" at the Pharma Marketing Award, presented at a pharma-marketing conference in Frankfurt; Johnson & Johnson's Nicorette Spray won the category and Bayer's Aspirin 500 came second [9]. In 2013 the parent company also expanded into Austria and France. Later changes at group level included the 2020 introduction of an umbrella mark, "WEPA – Die Apothekenmarke", across its products. On 20 February 2025 the brand announced Mosquito tropical, a spray with 50% DEET intended for travel to tropical and subtropical regions [5]. More recently the range was extended with two heat-based insect-bite devices, the Mosquito Insekten-Stichheiler and the Mosquito by heat it Insekten-Stichheiler, which the company presents as treatments for itching and swelling. ## Ownership Mosquito is wholly an in-house brand of WEPA Apothekenbedarf and has not changed hands. The parent is run by the Ciesielski family; Christian and Heike Ciesielski joined the management in 2009 as the fifth generation. WEPA reports more than 350 employees and a portfolio of over 8,000 products, and it frames its purpose as supporting pharmacies with solutions suited to their needs. Mosquito sits alongside several other WEPA brands, including aponorm (blood-pressure monitors, thermometers and inhalers), ApoLine (instruments), PECTORAL (lozenges), apotec (technical solutions) and TOPITEC (mixing systems used to prepare prescription skin formulations). The brand has no social-media channels of its own; the company says that news and tips about Mosquito products run on WEPA Apothekenbedarf's accounts. ## Philosophy & positioning Mosquito presents itself under the German tagline "lässt dich nicht im stich", an idiom meaning roughly "won't let you down" in which "Stich" is also the word for an insect bite or sting. The company describes the brand as standing for user-oriented pharmacy products and says its active-ingredient concepts are designed to be well tolerated. Children are central to that positioning. According to the company, the wellbeing of its users, "mostly young patients", and ease of use come first, alongside an efficacy it says has been shown in clinical studies [2]. It also says its products are clinically tested and carry a DERMATEST five-star seal for safety and tolerability. Pharmacy distribution is the other pillar. The company links its pharmacy-only policy to the advice pharmacists can give when products are sold. That choice is commercial rather than regulatory in at least one case: Stiftung Warentest lists the head-lice shampoo as not legally restricted to pharmacy sale [12]. ## Products & innovation The range is organised around three pests: head lice, mosquitoes and ticks. For head lice, the centrepiece is Mosquito med Läuse-Shampoo 10. It is a medical device rather than a medicine, and its active substance is white mineral oil. Stiftung Warentest describes its action as physical: it suffocates the lice while attacking their protective shell [12]. The company says it needs only ten minutes on the hair, is suitable from the age of one, and can be reimbursed for children up to 12 by statutory health insurance when prescribed by a doctor [3]. It is supported by a lice comb with long, closely set teeth and a built-in magnifier, and by a lice-repellent spray that the company says protects against infestation for up to 12 hours. The repellent sprays use three different active ingredients: - **Mosquito tropical** contains 50% DEET. The company says it keeps tropical mosquitoes such as the tiger mosquito (Aedes) and the malaria mosquito (Anopheles) away for up to ten hours, and ticks and horseflies for up to eight [4]. - **Mosquito protect Mücken-Schutzspray** uses 20% icaridin and is aimed at use at home and when travelling. - **Mosquito family Insekten-Schutzspray** is based on Eucalyptus citriodora oil and is labelled for children from six months. - **Mosquito protect Zecken-Schutzspray**, with 15% icaridin, is positioned for woods and meadows, with stated protection of up to ten hours against ticks and harvest mites. Tick removal is covered by tweezers, a card and a hook, while bite care includes the two heat-based bite healers and a cooling stick. ## Recognition Mosquito's only documented award is the third place for Mosquito med Läuse-Shampoo 10 at the 2015 Pharma Marketing Award, in the category for over-the-counter new launches [9]. Consumer testers have also examined the shampoo. ÖKO-TEST first rated it "unsatisfactory", having judged its efficacy insufficiently documented. In its April 2017 issue the magazine revised the overall grade to "satisfactory" after WEPA submitted a study it called meaningful, and rated efficacy as "good". Two deductions remained: the product contains mineral oil, and it was not on the German Federal Environment Agency's list of pest-control agents. The magazine also noted that it contains fragrance [11]. Stiftung Warentest included Mosquito med in its test of head-lice treatments dated 31 August 2026 [12]. ## Current status Mosquito is active. Its most recent product launch was the tropical repellent in February 2025, and the head-lice shampoo was on the market at the time of the August 2026 Stiftung Warentest review. The brand's website, product information and reimbursement details are directed at Germany; no source documents sales of the range in other countries. ## Timeline {#belagg-timeline} | Year | Event | Source | |---|---|---| | 1993 | mosquito® Parasitenschutz introduced by WEPA Apothekenbedarf as one of several in-house brands | https://www.wepa-apothekenbedarf.de/ueber-uns/historie/ | | 2013 | mosquito® Insektenschutz-Schaum (foam repellent with p-Menthan-3,8-diol from lemon eucalyptus, air as propellant) launched for pharmacies (press release dated 30.05.2013) | https://www.apotheke-adhoc.de/branchennews/alle-branchennews/branchennews-detail/neuer-insektenschutz-schaum-von-mosquitor/ | | 2014 | mosquito® med Läuse-Shampoo 10 (head-lice shampoo, 10-minute application) introduced in summer 2014 | https://www.apotheke-adhoc.de/branchennews/alle-branchennews/branchennews-detail/wepa-mosquito-med-laeuse-shampoo-10/print.html | | 2015 | mosquito® med Läuse-Shampoo 10 took 3rd place, Pharma Marketing Award 'Beste OTC-Neueinführung 2015' (PHARMA MARKETING Konferenz, Frankfurt, 8 June 2015) | https://www.apotheke-adhoc.de/branchennews/alle-branchennews/branchennews-detail/wepa-mosquito-med-laeuse-shampoo-10/print.html | | 2025 | mosquito® tropical Mücken-Schutzspray with 50% DEET launched (news post dated 20 February 2025) | https://www.mosquito.de/aktuelles/neu-tropischer-mueckenschutz/ | | — | mosquito® Insekten-Stichheiler and mosquito® by heat it® Insekten-Stichheiler (insect-bite heat devices) added to the range (undated news item on homepage) | https://www.mosquito.de/ | ## Awards {#belagg-awards} | Year | Awards | Category | Source | |---|---|---|---| | 2015 | Pharma Marketing Award – Beste OTC-Neueinführung 2015 (3rd place, mosquito® med Läuse-Shampoo 10) | Beste OTC-Neueinführung | https://www.apotheke-adhoc.de/branchennews/alle-branchennews/branchennews-detail/wepa-mosquito-med-laeuse-shampoo-10/print.html | ## Signature products {#belagg-products} - **mosquito® med Läuse-Shampoo 10** — nur 10 Minuten Einwirkzeit — https://www.mosquito.de/kopflaeuse/produkte/produktvergleich/ - **mosquito® tropical Mücken-Schutzspray** — Das neue mosquito® tropical Mücken-Schutzspray mit 50% DEET hält neben heimischen vor allem tropische Mücken, wie z.B. die Tigermücke (Aedes) und Malariamücke (Anopheles) bis zu 10 Stunden fern! — https://www.mosquito.de/aktuelles/neu-tropischer-mueckenschutz/ - **mosquito® protect Mücken-Schutzspray** — Wirkstoff: 20% Icaridin — https://www.mosquito.de/muecken/produkte/produktvergleich-sprays/ - **mosquito® protect Zecken-Schutzspray** — Spezialist für Wald & Wiesen! — https://www.mosquito.de/muecken/produkte/produktvergleich-sprays/ - **mosquito® family Insekten-Schutzspray** — Für Kinder ab 6 Monaten! — https://www.mosquito.de/muecken/produkte/produktvergleich-sprays/ ## Key ingredients {#belagg-ingredients} DEET · Icaridin · Eucalyptus citriodora oil · white oil (weißes Mineralöl) Source: https://www.mosquito.de/muecken/produkte/produktvergleich-sprays/ ## Mentioned in {#belagg-press} - **ÖKO-TEST** (2017) — ÖKO-TEST April 2017: rating of Wepa Mosquito Med Läuseshampoo revised from 'ungenügend' to 'befriedigend' after WEPA submitted an efficacy study (efficacy now 'gut'); deductions kept for mineral oil and for not being on the Umweltbundesamt Entwesungsmittelliste; product contains fragrance. — https://www.oekotest.de/kinder-familie/reaktionen-wepa-mosquito-med-lauseshampoo_109259_1.html - **Stiftung Warentest (test.de)** (2026) — Head-lice treatment test dated 31.08.2026 includes 'WEPA Apothekenbedarf Mosquito med' (Medizinprodukt, active ingredient white mineral oil, physical mode of action, from 12 months, 17,50 Euro); the quality rating is paywalled and was not read. — https://www.test.de/Laeusemittel-im-Test-5369579-detail/33000042250!9/ - **apotheke adhoc (Branchennews)** (2015) — Industry-news item on mosquito® med Läuse-Shampoo 10 placing 3rd at the Pharma Marketing Award 2015 (behind Johnson & Johnson's Nicorette Spray and Bayer's Aspirin 500). — https://www.apotheke-adhoc.de/branchennews/alle-branchennews/branchennews-detail/wepa-mosquito-med-laeuse-shampoo-10/print.html - **apotheke adhoc (Branchennews)** (2013) — Company-submitted press release (publisher WEPA Apothekenbedarf) on the launch of the mosquito® Insektenschutz-Schaum; brand described as 'biologischer Parasitenschutz aus der Apotheke'. — https://www.apotheke-adhoc.de/branchennews/alle-branchennews/branchennews-detail/neuer-insektenschutz-schaum-von-mosquitor/ ## Sources 1. (T1) https://www.mosquito.de/ 2. (T2) https://www.mosquito.de/konzept/ 3. (T2) https://www.mosquito.de/kopflaeuse/produkte/produktvergleich/ 4. (T2) https://www.mosquito.de/muecken/produkte/produktvergleich-sprays/ 5. (T2) https://www.mosquito.de/aktuelles/neu-tropischer-mueckenschutz/ 7. (T2) https://www.wepa-apothekenbedarf.de/ 8. (T2) https://www.wepa-apothekenbedarf.de/ueber-uns/historie/ 9. (T3) https://www.apotheke-adhoc.de/branchennews/alle-branchennews/branchennews-detail/wepa-mosquito-med-laeuse-shampoo-10/print.html 10. (T3) https://www.apotheke-adhoc.de/branchennews/alle-branchennews/branchennews-detail/neuer-insektenschutz-schaum-von-mosquitor/ 11. (T3) https://www.oekotest.de/kinder-familie/reaktionen-wepa-mosquito-med-lauseshampoo_109259_1.html 12. (T3) https://www.test.de/Laeusemittel-im-Test-5369579-detail/33000042250!9/ --- Glowpedia · · Published 2026-10-06 Please cite with a link to the article URL.