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ARS Home » Southeast Area » Gainesville, Florida » Center for Medical, Agricultural and Veterinary Entomology » Mosquito and Fly Research » Research » Publications at this Location » Publication #346277
Research Project: Biting Arthropod Surveillance and Control

Location: Mosquito and Fly Research

Title: Evaluation of pyriproxyfen dissemination via Aedes albopictus from a point source larvicide application in northeast Florida

Author
item LYOYD, AARON - Pasco County Mosquito Control
item FAROQ, MUHAMMED - Navy Entomology Center Of Excellence
item ESTEP, ALDEN - Navy Entomology Center Of Excellence, Cmave Detachment
item XUE, RUI-DE - Anastasia Mosquito Control District
item Kline, Daniel - Dan

Submitted to: Journal of the American Mosquito Control Association
Publication Type: Peer Reviewed Journal
Publication Acceptance Date: 4/11/2017
Publication Date: 6/1/2017
Citation: Lyoyd, A.M., Faroq, M., Estep, A.S., Xue, R., Kline, D.L. 2017. Evaluation of pyriproxyfen dissemination via Aedes albopictus from a point source larvicide application in northeast Florida. Journal of the American Mosquito Control Association. 33(2):151-155.

Interpretive Summary: The Asian tiger mosquito, Aedes albopictus, ranks among the most important vectors of dengue fever, Zika virus, and chikungunya virus. The problem is that there are no specific medications or vaccines available , thus vector control is the only way to combat these diseases. This project was a multi-agency effort to evaluate the effectiveness of a technique known as autodissemination. This technique uses the target insect to transmit a control agent to manage the next generation of mosquitoes. In this study we used the insect growth regulator pyriproxyfen (IGR). It was applied to a point-source treatment site utilized by female mosquitoes seeking a site to lay her eggs. Some success was achieved in the first few days in test oviposition sites placed near the treatment site, but the overall control we hoped for was not achieved, therefore we believe that further evaluation is needed to identify additional formulations and techniques that may work for pyriproxyfen autodissemination. Future studies evaluating the dissemination of pyriproxyfen formulated as a gel or similar carriers that can bind to a female mosquito during oviposition should be conducted.

Technical Abstract: The Asian tiger mosquito, Aedes albopictus, ranks among the most important vectors of dengue fever, Zika virus, and chikungunya virus. With no specific medications or vaccines available, vector control is the only way to combat these diseases. Autodissemination of the insect growth regulator pyriproxyfen (NyGuardt) from a point-source treatment was evaluated in field settings in northeast Florida. The objective of this study was to investigate the possibility of pyriproxyfen dissemination from a treatment site to nontreated oviposition sites via the skip oviposition behavior of Ae. albopictus. A spray application was made to a tire pile using a Stihlt SR 420 backpack sprayer. Autodissemination oviposition vases containing oak infusion water were positioned in groups of five at 25 to 400 m in 4 transects surrounding the tire pile. Two sets of 5 control vases containing oak infusion water were placed 1,500 m from the tire pile and oak infusion water samples were collected directly from the tire pile. Fifty milliliter samples were extracted from each vase weekly and preserved for pyriproxyfen residue analysis. All vases were analyzed at week 0 (4 h post-treatment), 1, 2, 4, and 6. Overall, there were no differences in pupal mortality between the control and autodissemination vases. The tire pile samples had significantly more mortality (P , 0.0001) out to 4 wk when compared to autodissemination and control vases.