Pyrethroid induced behavioral responses of Anopheles dirus, a vector of malaria in Thailand

Contact and noncontact behavioral actions of wild-caught Anopheles dirus in response to the operational field dose of three synthetic pyrethroids (bifenthrin, α-cypermethrin and λ-cyhalothrin) were evaluated using an exito-repellency test chamber. DEET was used as the repellency standard for comparison with the other three synthetic pyrethroids. Results showed that test specimens rapidly escaped from the test chamber when exposed to direct contact with a surface treated with each of the three synthetic pyrethroids and DEET. Alpha-cypermethrin demonstrated the strongest irritant action (84.9% escape), followed by DEET (77.0%), λ-cyhalothrin (68.6%) and bifenthrin (68.3%). In the noncontact configuration, fewer mosquitoes escaped from the test chambers as compared to contact trials, although a significant escape response was still observed as compared to the controls (P<0.05). We conclude that An. dirus exhibits both irritant and repellent actions in response the three pyrethroids testing in this study. The information obtained will allow us to better understand the behavioral responses of vectors to various chemicals and provide guidance when designing control strategies for targeting specific disease vectors.