Surprisingly, yes.
Even though coconut oil doesn’t have a strong smell like citronella or garlic, research by the US Department of Agriculture found that the fatty acids found in coconut oil had long-lasting insect-repelling properties against pests such as flies, ticks, bed bugs, and mosquitos.
However, lead researcher Junwei Zhu stressed that it was the compounds extracted from coconut oil – not the oil itself – which were effective mosquito repellents.
The study found that coconut oil compounds out-performed DEET - the chemical found in many mosquito repellents - with an effective rate greater than 95 percent. Coconut oil repelled bed bugs and ticks for two weeks, far longer than DEET’s three days of effectiveness.
The downside however is that the concentration of coconut oil compounds required to effectively repel mosquitoes is far greater than the amount of DEET required.
However, you could mix coconut oil with essential oil to make a dermal pomade, and you can also find commercial sprays which feature coconut oil and other natural ingredients.