Effects of different odours on the reproductive success of Mus musculus as an alternative method of control

ADDUCI, LUCIANA; LEÓN, VANINA A.; BUSCH, MARÍA; FRASCHINA, JIMENA

PEST MANAGEMENT SCIENCE

JOHN WILEY & SONS LTD

Lugar: Londres; Año: 2019

1526-498X

BACKGROUND:The house mouse (Mus musculus) is a cosmopolitan rodent that has become adapted to living in close association with humans and is considered a serious pest because it poses a risk to human health and causes economic losses due to food and crop consumption and damage to building structures. Its control in animal production farms is achieved mainly through the application of anticoagulant rodenticides, but the effect of these compounds is limited because of the presence of resistant individuals and aversive behaviours. A potential alternative method could use chemical signals to reduce rodent reproductive success. In this study, we assessed the effects of the odours from an unfamiliar male, 17β- estradiol, overcrowding, cat urine, and 2,5-dihydro-2,4,5-trimethylthiazoline (TMT) on the reproductive success of laboratory Mus musculus females.RESULTS:According to the Generalized Linear Mixed Models, the cat urine odour increased the proportion of abortions per female, the unfamiliar male odour decreased the mean number of offspring born per female, and TMT had an overall negative effect on the mean offspring production at birth and at weaning. The other odours had no significant effects on reproductive success.CONCLUSIONS:TMT seems to be the best candidate for population control because it caused a decrease in the mean number of offspring born and in the mean number of live offspring at weaning. TMT also has the advantage of being available in commercial forms. To be useful for rodent management in field conditions, these results should be confirmed using wild house mice females.