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ViewAttendees 2

10-Minute Paper

Medical, Urban, and Veterinary Entomology

MUVE: Vector Control and Resistance Management

Industrial minerals for tick control: Lab to semi-field studies

Wednesday, November 8, 2023
10:00 AM - 10:12 AM ET
Location: Gaylord National Resort & Convention Center, National Harbor 2
In-Person
Celite is a diatomaceous earth that is used as a mechanical insecticide. Recently, Celite and artificially made, silica-based dusts (Imergard) have shown promising acaricidal properties. Our previous laboratory experiments have shown Celite and Imergard to be effective against nymphal and adult Ixodes scapularis. No work on efficacy was conducted yet on the American dog tick, Dermacentor variabilis, a common hard tick in central and eastern North America through southern Canada. In this study, we conducted dipping, choice, and dose-dependent assays, and a semi-field experiment using D. variabilis nymphs under laboratory-controlled conditions. Our results for the dipping and choice assays indicated that Celite is effective in controlling D. variabilis nymphs as it does for Ixodes scapularis nymphs and adults and Amblyomma americanum. Under laboratory-controlled semi-field conditions, Celite, is effective, at least, at a dose of 5 mg/m2 in killing D. variabilis nymphs in 24 - 48 hours. No tick mortality was recorded in the control experiments. The efficacy of Celite as a mechanical dust for the control of, at least, some life stages of the most common ticks in the mid and eastern US is encouraging.