Control of experimental Triatoma infestans populations: effect of pour-on cypermethrin applied to chickens under natural conditions in the Argentinean Chaco region

IVANA AMELOTTI, SILVIA S CATALÁ, DAVID E GORLA

MEDICAL AND VETERINARY ENTOMOLOGY

WILEY-BLACKWELL PUBLISHING, INC

Lugar: Londres; Año: 2013 p. 1 - 7

0269-283X

Among peridomestic structures, chicken coops are sites of major importance for the domestic ecology of Triatoma infestans (Hemiptera: Reduviidae). The aim of this study was to evaluate in an experimental context the effects of a cypermethrin pour-on formulation applied to chickens on blood intake, moulting and mortality in T. infestans, under the natural climatic conditions of a region endemic for Chagas? disease. Experimental chicken huts were made of bricks and covered with plastic mosquito nets. Ninety fourth-instar nymphs were maintained in each hut. The study used a completely random design in which chickens in the experimental group were treated with a cypermethrin pour-on formulation. Five replicates (=huts) of the experimental and control groups were conducted. The number of live T. infestans, blood intake and moults to fifth-instar stage were recorded at 1, 5, 20, 35 and 45 days after the application of cypermethrin. Cumulative mortality was higher in nymphs exposed to treated chickens (>71%) than in control nymphs (