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ARS Home » Plains Area » Kerrville, Texas » Knipling-Bushland U.S. Livestock Insects Research Laboratory » Cattle Fever Tick Research Unit » Research » Publications at this Location » Publication #399731

Research Project: Integrated Pest Management of Cattle Fever Ticks

Location: Cattle Fever Tick Research Unit

Title: Desiccant dusts, with and without bioactive botanicals, lethal to Rhipicephalus (Boophilus) microplus Canestrini (Ixodida: Ixodidae) in the laboratory and on cattle

Author
item Showler, Allan
item Harlien, Jessica

Submitted to: Journal of Medical Entomology
Publication Type: Peer Reviewed Journal
Publication Acceptance Date: 12/19/2022
Publication Date: 2/3/2023
Citation: Showler, A., Harlien, J.L. 2023. Desiccant dusts, with and without bioactive botanicals, lethal to Rhipicephalus (Boophilus) microplus Canestrini (Ixodida: Ixodidae) in the laboratory and on cattle. Journal of Medical Entomology. https://doi.org/10.1093/jme/tjad010.
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1093/jme/tjad010

Interpretive Summary: The exotic southern cattle fever tick, since its eradication from the United States in 1943, made a strong incursion into Texas, beginning 2016. The pest is arguably the most economically detrimental ectoparasite of cattle worldwide. Current cattle fever tick control mostly relies on conventional synthetic acaricides to which the pest has been developing resistance. Our study demonstrates that commercially available desiccant dust products, with and without bioactive botanical additives, are strongly lethal, when applied dry, against larval southern cattle fever ticks in the laboratory, and after being released on dust-treated cattle. Deadzone (renamed Celite 610, a diatomaceous earth product), Drione (silica gel + pyrethrins + a synergist), and EcoVia (silica gel + thyme oil), each prophylactically prevented larval southern cattle fever ticks from attaching to and feeding on cattle calves. Desiccant dust-based products are less likely than conventional synthetic acaricides to weaken as a result of ixodid resistance, and other desiccant dust advantages, including extended residual, flexibility in terms of application methods, environmental, animal, and human safety, and possible compatibility with organic, or “green”, production systems, are discussed. We anticipate that the desiccant dusts we evaluated, and others not included in this study (e.g., kaolin, perlite, and silica gel) will be effective when used with other control tactics in integrated pest management approaches for controlling southern cattle fever ticks (and other hard tick species).

Technical Abstract: The exotic southern cattle fever tick, Rhipicephalus (Boophilus) microplus (Canestrini) (Ixodida: Ixodidae), since its eradication from the United States in 1943, made a strong incursion into Texas, beginning 2016. The pest is arguably the most economically detrimental ectoparasite of cattle, Bos taurus L., worldwide. Current R. (B.) microplus control mostly relies on conventional synthetic acaricides to which the ixodid has been developing resistance. Our study demonstrates that commercially available desiccant dust products, with and without bioactive botanical additives, are strongly lethal, when applied dry, against larval R. (B.) microplus in the laboratory, and after being released on dust-treated cattle. Deadzone (renamed Celite 610, a diatomaceous earth product), Drione (silica gel + pyrethrins + piperonyl butoxide synergist), and EcoVia (silica gel + thyme oil), each prophylactically prevented larval R. (B.) microplus from attaching to and feeding on stanchioned calves. Desiccant dust-based products are less likely than conventional synthetic acaricides to weaken as a result of ixodid resistance, and other desiccant dust advantages, including extended residual, flexibility in terms of application methods, environmental, animal, and human safety, and possible compatibility with organic, or “green”, production systems, are discussed. We anticipate that the desiccant dusts we evaluated, and others not included in this study (e.g., kaolin, perlite, and silica gel) will be effective when used with other control tactics in integrated pest management approaches for controlling R. (B.) microplus (and other ixodid species).