Weather and Storage Effects on Insecticide-Impregnated Cloth for Use Against Stable Flies (Diptera: Muscidae)

Mentor: Jerry Hogsette

Objective:   The justification of this project stems from the need to know how well the product will resist the degrading effects of the Florida weather and how well it will withstand long-term storage.  Treated cloth targets were hung outside at the U.F. Horse Teaching Unit and hung inside a storage barn at the same location.  Samples (ca. 4 x 4 in) were taken from each cloth and tested with an application of ~15 stable flies at the USDA-ARS lab.  Results as of right now are not complete because samples must be taken again in August and in September to show long-term effects.  However, in all treatments but one, all flies died within 30 minutes of exposure to the treated cloth.

This is Alyce’s second year as a Summer Apprentice and she has been working on a project to check the longevity of pesticide-treated cloth to be used as toxic targets for management of the stable fly, Stomoxys calcitrans L.  Alyce has also been working on a project to find non-toxic substances that can be applied to a surface and will prevent house flies from landing.  She is also assisting Tracey Tam with work on the Sonic Web traps.

Alyce hanging treated targets at the outside location on the U.F. Horse Teaching Unit.

Alyce lables treated targets at the inside location.