Synergism between ammonia and phenols for Hybomitra tabanids in northern and temperate Canada

Baits for tabanids (Diptera: Tabanidae) were tested in the Northwest Territories (60 °N) and Ontario (45 °N) using Nzi traps. Tests targeted ammonia, phenols/cow urine and octenol. About 200 000 tabanids were captured in 15 experiments with a maximum capture of 4182 in one trap in 1 day. In the Northwest Territories, phenols, urine and octenol were effective single baits for only some species. At both locations, adding ammonia to an unbaited or an octenol-baited trap had no effect on catches. By contrast, catches were increased for several species when ammonia was combined with phenols or urine. In Ontario, including ammonia in various baits increased catches by 1.5- to 3.4-fold relative to octenol alone for three Hybomitra and one Tabanus species. Synergism between ammonia and phenols was clearly demonstrated for the dominant Hybomitra species in Ontario (Hybomitra lasiophthalma), but not for the dominant species in the Northwest Territories (Hybomitra epistates). In five other northern Hybomitra species, baits of ammonia and/or octenol in combination with phenols resulted in a 1.7- to 4.1-fold increase in catch relative to an unbaited trap. Further tests of ammonia as a synergist for biting flies may prove useful in, for example, tsetse, which respond strongly to phenols.