**4. Conclusions**

Preventing human-vector contact is an effective way to protect people from mosquito bites as well as to eliminate the threat of mosquito-borne diseases. We developed a mathematical model to predict the bite-resistance of non-insecticidal textile barriers. Our model was verified through *in vitro* bioassays, using woven fabrics, plastic spacer plates and knitted and knitted spacer fabrics, which showed that the model could accurately predict bite-resistance of mechanical barriers. The model was then used to develop comfortable and wearable textiles for garments. When compared with permethrin-treated fabric, our fabrics development for garments had a higher bite-resistance with a predicted higher level of protection for exposed skin; the latter needs further study however. Then prototype garments were constructed with these textiles. These garments exhibited superior comfort performance compared to similar commercial garments and 100% mosquito bite-resistance. Use of our model in the future will facilitate development of other, highly effective and comfortable bite resistant fabrics solely based on textile structure without the need for an insecticidal treatment to prevent mosquito biting and can be used to produce mosquito bite proof clothing for everyday use.

**Supplementary Materials:** The following are available online at https://www.mdpi.com/2075-445 0/12/7/636/s1. enclosed in attachment.

**Author Contributions:** Conceptualization, K.L., A.J.W., M.G.M., E.A.D., Q.S., F.N., T.B., C.S.A., and R.M.R.; methodology, K.L., M.G.M., E.A.D., Q.S., F.N. and T.B.; investigation, K.L., A.J.W., Q.S., I.B., J.L., N.V.T., R.D.M.III, G.L.C., J.B.S., and Y.W.; resources, A.J.W., E.A.D., C.S.A. and R.M.R.; writing—original draft, K.L. and Q.S.; writing—review and editing, A.J.W., M.G.M., E.A.D., C.S.A. and R.M.R.; supervision, A.J.W., M.G.M., E.A.D., C.S.A. and R.M.R.; project administration, A.J.W., M.G.M., E.A.D., C.S.A. and R.M.R.; funding acquisition, A.J.W., M.G.M., E.A.D., C.S.A., R.M.R. and K.L. All authors have read and agreed to the published version of the manuscript.

**Funding:** This study was supported by the National Science Foundation (DMI-0646883), the Deployed War Fighter Program (DWFP, W911QY-12-1-0008); Natick Contracting Division, US Department of Defense (W911QY-16-1-0001); DWFP (W911QY-19-1-0005); DWFP (W911QY-19-1-0003); the Chancellor's Innovation Fund at NC State University (170615MA); and the Southeast Center for Agricultural Health and Injury Prevention, PILOTS (3210001070-20-166).

**Institutional Review Board Statement:** The study was conducted according to the guidelines of the Declaration of Helsinki and approved by the Institutional Review Board (or Ethics Committee) of North Carolina State University (IRB 2925 and 9075).

**Informed Consent Statement:** Informed consent was obtained from all subjects involved in the study.

**Data Availability Statement:** All data are available in the main text or the supplementary materials.

**Acknowledgments:** We thank P. Strader for assistance in collecting nano-indentation data at the Analytical Instrumentation Facility of NC State University. We thank M. Bertone from the Plant Disease and Insect Clinic of NC State University for his assistance in photographing mosquitoes. We also thank P. W. Gibson and J. B. Sennett for their contributions in project management.

**Conflicts of Interest:** A.J.W., M.G.M., E.A.D., C.S.A. and R.M.R. have competing interests.
