In-vitro efficacy of a botanical acaricide and its active ingredients against larvae of susceptible and acaricide-resistant strains of Rhipicephalus (Boophilus) microplus Canestrini (Acari: Ixodidae).

Ticks and tick-borne diseases are a major constraint for a sustainable cattle industry in the tropical and subtropical regions of the world. The development of resistance to most of the commonly used acaricides has led to an assessment of herbal products for acaricidal activity as an eco-friendly tick control alternative. A botanical product, Essentria® IC-3 insect concentrate containing rosemary oil (10%), geraniol (5%) and peppermint oil (2%), acts on target pests by blocking octopamine. Essentria® IC-3 and its active components were evaluated for larvicidal activity against several susceptible and acaricide-resistant strains of the cattle fever tick, Rhipicephalus (Boophilus) microplus Canestrini by Larval Packet test using 14-21 d old unfed larvae. The efficacy was assessed by measuring percent larval mortality and estimating lethal concentrations at 50% (LC50) and 95% (LC95) with 95% confidence limits (CL) using probit analysis. The LC50 and LC95 (95% CL) values for Essentria® IC-3 against the susceptible strain were estimated as 0.647% (0.59-0.69) and 1.033% (0.94-1.19), respectively, whereas, LC50 and LC95 values for other strains were variable, ranging from 0.597-1.674% and 0.927-2.236%, respectively. Among the various active ingredients, the larvicidal property of Essentria® IC-3 seem to be attributable mainly to geraniol and the LC50 and LC95 (95% CL) values for geraniol against the susceptible Deutch strain were estimated as 0.656% (0.61-0.69) and 1.114% (1.03-1.25), respectively. The comparison of LC50 and LC95 values of acaricide-resistant strains showed susceptibility comparable to Deutch against geraniol except for the Las Palmas strain. We report a low level of resistance in some of the acaricide-resistant strains against the herbal acaricide in the cattle tick for the first time, possibly due to cross-resistance to chemical acaricides.

Comparison of natural and artificial odor lures for nilgai (Boselaphus tragocamelus) and white-tailed deer (Odocoileus virginianus) in South Texas: Developing treatment for cattle fever tick eradication.

Cattle fever ticks (CFT), vectors of bovine babesiosis and anaplasmosis, were eradicated from the United States by 1943, but are frequently reintroduced from neighboring border states of Mexico via stray cattle and wildlife hosts including white-tailed deer (Odocoileus virginianus) (WTD) and nilgai antelope (Boselaphus tragocamelus). Nilgai antelope are exotic bovids from India that are hosts of CFT, have large home ranges as compared to WTD, thus have the potential to spread CFT through the landscape. Currently, there are no methods to control CFT on nilgai. Odor lures were evaluated to determine if nilgai could be attracted to a central point for development of control methods. Four treatments, nilgai offal a natural odor lure was used as the positive control; and compared to three artificial odors; screw worm lure, volatile fatty acids, citronella oil. Studies were conducted on a free-ranging population of nilgai at the East Foundation's Santa Rosa Ranch (Kenedy Co., near Riviera, Texas, USA). Game cameras were used to document visitation to the lures. In the ten randomly placed transects, 110 nilgai and 104 WTD were photographed. Offal had significantly more visits by nilgai (71% of total visits) than screwworm (15%), VFA (11%), and citronella (4%). For WTD, there was no significant difference in visitation at the lure treatments.