A method for protecting a plant from an arthropod may include applying an amount of a repellant composition including diatomaceous earth to a plant. According to some aspects, the repellent composition may render the plant unpalatable to the arthropod, resulting in death of the arthropod by starvation. A method for protecting a plant from an arthropod may include applying an amount of a repellant composition including diatomaceous earth to a plant. The arthropod may not include an exoskeleton, and the repellent composition may render the plant unpalatable to the arthropod, resulting in death of the arthropod by starvation.
