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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 #412152

Research Project: Integrated Pest Management of Mosquitoes and Biting Flies

Location: Mosquito and Fly Research

Title: Point protection with transfluthrin against Musca domestica in a semi-field enclosure

Author
item Aldridge, Robert
item Pagac, Alexandra
item Norris, Edmund
item Geden, Christopher - Chris
item Kline, Daniel - Dan
item Linthicum, Kenneth - Ken

Submitted to: Insects
Publication Type: Peer Reviewed Journal
Publication Acceptance Date: 4/9/2024
Publication Date: 4/16/2024
Citation: Aldridge, R.L., Pagac, A.A., Norris, E.J., Geden, C.J., Kline, D.L., Linthicum, K. 2024. Point protection with transfluthrin against Musca domestica in a semi-field enclosure. Insects. 15(4). https://doi.org/10.3390/insects15040277.
DOI: https://doi.org/10.3390/insects15040277

Interpretive Summary: House flies are persistant pests of humans and their livestock. They are difficult to control because of their tendency to live alongside humans and their domesticated animals as well as their rapid rate of insecticide resistance. With this in mind we explored an alternative, a pyrethroid based spatial repellent to protect a point (i.e., a trap). Our results were promising, and demonstrated effective control for both the permethrin resistant (WHF) and susceptible (CAR21) strains of house flies. The protected trap collected an average of 28% of the total number of house flies from the WHF strain and the CAR21 strain collected an average of 22% of the total number of house flies. These results are promising and demonstrate that transfluthrin can be an effective spatial repellent to protect points of interest where needed for short periods of time and hypothetically may be combined with plant essential oils to enhance or extend the protective effect.

Technical Abstract: House flies are notoriously difficult to control pests, owing to both their tendency to live in close relationships with humans and their livestock, as well as their rapid resistance to chemical controls. With this in mind, we explored an alternative chemical control, a spatial repellent to ward Musca domestica L. from areas we wanted to protect (i.e., a baited trap). Our results demonstrated that the synthetic spatial repellent, transfluthrin is effective at preventing M. domestica adults from entering protected traps for both susceptible (CAR21) collecting 22% of the summed average number of flies, and the permethrin resistant strain (WHF) collecting 28% of the summed average number of flies. These results are promising and demonstrate that transfluthrin can be an effective spatial repellent to protect points of interest where needed for short periods of time and hypothetically may be synergized with plant essential oils to amplify or extend the effect.