Related Experiment Video
Updated: Jun 27, 2025

Visualizing Efficacy of Pesticides Against Disease Vector Mosquitoes in the Field
Published on: March 16, 2019
Point Protection with Transfluthrin against Musca domestica L. in a Semi-Field Enclosure
Robert L Aldridge1, Alexandra A Pagac1, Edmund J Norris1
1Center for Medical, Agricultural, and Veterinary Entomology (CMAVE), U.S. Department of Agriculture-Agricultural Research Service (USDA-ARS), Gainesville, FL 32608, USA.
Abstract:
House flies are notoriously difficult to control, owing to their tendency to live in close relationships with humans and their livestock, and their rapid development of resistance to chemical controls. With this in mind, we explored an alternative chemical control, a spatial repellent to deter Musca domestica L. from points we wanted to protect (i.e., a baited trap). Our results demonstrated that the synthetic spatial repellent, transfluthrin, is effective in preventing M. domestica adults from entering protected traps for both a susceptible strain (CAR21) and a field-acquired permethrin-resistant strain (WHF; 24 h LD50 resistance ratio of 150), comprising 22% and 28% of the total number of flies collected, respectively. These results are promising and demonstrate that transfluthrin can be an effective spatial repellent to protect points of interest where needed.

