PERMETHRIN EAR TAGS EVALUATED IN FOUR STATES FOR CONTROL OF THE HORN FLY' AND FACE FLY'" R. W. Miller', R. D. Hall', F. W. Knapp', R. E. Williams', K. E. Doisy" F. Herald " and C. A. Towell' Abstract: Ear tags, molded by two different commercial manufacturing processcl'l, containing 6 - 10% permethrin, and cis:trans isomer ratios of 40:60 or 52:48 were evaluated in Maryland, Missouri, Indiana, and Kentucky. In Indiana and Kentucky different color tags were also evaluated. With the exception of Indiana. where hom fly, Haemalobin irritans (Linnaeus), populations on control cattle were small, all tags provided 95% or greater cont.rol of the hom nies. With the exception of Missouri, tags that contained 8 or 10% pennethrin with an isomer ratio of 52:48 were as effective against face flies. Musca Qu.lumnalis DeGeer, 8S were the commercial tags marketed in 1982 which contained 10% pennethrin with an isomer ratio of 40:60. In trials in Indiana and Kentucky the color of tags did not affect efficacy. In Kentucky trials, reducing the perccnlage of plasticizer or stapling a commercial tag onto existing noninsecticidal ear lags lowered efficacy.

Key Words: Ear tags, horn fly, face fly, cattle, permethrin, J. Agric. Enlomol. 1(3), 264-268 (July 1984)

Ear tags impregnated with permethrin insecticide have been evaluated for control of hom flies, Haematobia irritans (Linnaeus), and face flies, Musca autumnalis DeGeer, (Knapp and Herald 1980; Williams and Westby 1980; Williams et al. 1981). Tags tested in those trials contained 5 or 10% permethrin with 8 cis:tcans isomer ratio of 40:60. Williams and Westby (1980) and Williams et aI. (1981) reported good-to-excellent control of the horn fly with either the 5 or 10% permethrin tags. The 5% tag provided little or no control against the face ny, whereas the 10% tag provided 30 - 50% control. Knapp and Herald (1980) obtained an average 75% reduction in face flies with 10% permethrin tags. The present study was conducted to determine the effects of various combi­ nations of percentage of active ingredient, isomer ratios, color, and manufacturing processes on the efficacy of permethrin ear tags. The results of tests conducted in Indiana, Kentucky, Maryland, and Missouri are reported.

MATERIALS AND METHODS A description of the different pennethrin-polyvinyl chloride ear tags tested is presented in Table 1. Details of the two commercial manufacturing processes used to mold the tags is proprietary information. Tags were attached to both ears of beef cattle with a Y-Tex'" applicator, on the dates indicated in Table 2, In cow-calf 1 DlPTERA: Muscidlll!

2 This Illlper repons thc rr.sults of research only. Mention of a !Imllrietal)' product or II pesticide does not. conatitute n

3

4 5

6

recommendntiOIl b)' the USDA, nor does it iml,ly rel:illtmtion under FlFRA 118 IImended. Thill relle~h wu aupported hy NC-154 and the Burroughs Welkome Co. Reeei'-ed for publiclltion 10 October 1983: Iluepled 26 April 1984. Li\'estock 'nncu l.aboratory. A,,'l'il:Ultur.1 En';mnmen!sl QUlllity In;;titute, AilS, USDA, Deltaville. MI) 20';05. Depanment of Elllomolol:)', Univerlity of Mi5MlUri, Columhin. MO 65211. Deportment of Entomology. Univenil)· of Kenlucky, LC1inl:lon, KY 40546.0091. The in"esligation in this paper (No, 83·7·176) ia in conn«"tion with" I'rojed of the Kentucky Agricultural "~II>eriment81 Slalion and ill IlUhlished with Ilppr1l\·,,1 of the director. Dellonment of Jo:nlomolojp', Purdue University. Wf'st Lllfnyelle. 1:\ 4';90';. ,Journal pOller No. 9640.

264

MILLER et al.: Ear Tags for Control of Hom Flies and Face Flies

265

Table 1. Description of permethrin ear tags used in study with cattle in four slates, 1982.

Tag type­ A B C D

F G

H J K 8 Y

% Active ingredient 10 10 8 6 8 8 8 10 10 10 10

Cis:trans isomer ratio

Color

Commercial manufacturing process

40:60 52:48 52:48 52:48 52:48 52:48 52:48 40:60 52:48 40:60 40:60

Orange Orange Orange Orange Green Blue Yellow Orange Orange Orange Orange

1 1 1 1 1 1 1 2 1 2 2

- All tllp oontaiDed 38" dioctyl pthalau plasticizer, which the elCtptiOD of "J" tap which oontaintd 30'lo.

Table 2. Locations included in study, times of treatment, cattle number and type, and ear tag treatment applied for control of horn flies and face flies, 1982.

8tate Indiana Kentucky Maryland Missouri

Dates lags attached

No. cattle per treatment

Breed(s) of cattle

Tag types·

9 July 28 June - 2 July 29 May - 11 June 28 - 30 June

20 23 - 35 12 - 44 24 - 30

Charolais X Angus Mixed Mixed Mixed

F,H,K,S,Y G,H,J,S,Y A,B,C,D,Y A,B,C,D,Y

• See Table I (or (ormulations or pennelbrin in diHtrtmt ugl.

herds, only the cows were tagged. For the "S" treatment, a 75 X 50 mm portion of a "Y" tag was stapled onto the back of a cattle identification (ill) tag, with 12.5 mm of the 50 mm dimension extending below the ill tag. Once a week after the tags were attached, face flies and hom flies were counted on 15 of the cattle in the Missouri herds and on 10 of the cattle in each of the respective herds in the other states. Face flies were counted on the entire face and horn flies on one side of the cattle. Fly counts were converted analysis of variance within each July, August, and September Differences between individual multiple range test.

to IOglO (n + 1) before statistical analyses by trial. Counts were analyzed as monthly means for and as an average over the 3-month period. means within each trial were tested by Duncan's

After the end of the trials in Indiana, Kentucky, and Maryland, three ear tags were removed from cattle in each treatment group and sent to Burroughs \Vellcome Company for pennethrin analysis by gas liquid chromatography.

266

J. Agric. Enlomol. Vol. 1, No.3 (1984)

RESULTS AND DISCUSSION Because no significant trends were apparent in the fly counts during the 3­ month period, only the total average fly counts are presented in this paper. All tags essentially eliminated horn flies from the cattle over the entire 3~month period (Table 3). With the exception of the "S" treatment in Kentucky, efficacy of the tags against horn flies did not differ.

All of the tags reduced face fly populations on the treated cattle; however, their efficacy against face flies differed (Table 4). In Maryland, face fly numbers were similar on cattle with tags containing 10% permethrin (commercial manufacturing process 1) with either 8 40:60 or 52:48 cis:traos isomer ratio. The efficacy of these two tag types and ones between types and containing 8% permethrin (52:48 cis:trans) did not differ. All of the cattle with these tags had fewer (P < 0.05) flies than cattle with the commercial "Y" tag containing 10% pennethrin (40:60 cis:trans). Tags containing 6% permethrin (52:48 cis:trans) gave the poorest face fly control in Maryland. Results with the same tags in Missouri differed somewhat from the results in Maryland (Table 4). In Missouri, the commercial "Y" tag gave the best control. Results with the the other tags did not differ significantly althougb the percentage of active ingredient ranged from 6 to 10%. The reason for differences between the effectiveness of tags in Maryland and the effectiveness of those in Missouri was not apparent. However, at each location only one herd had average counts greater than nine flies per face. Because all other herds had counts below seven flies per face, most tags provided a reasonable degree of face fly control.

In Indiana, face fly counts were generally Iowan all cattle, including the untreated controls. All ear-tagged cattle had significantly fewer face flies than the controls (P < 0.05); however, results with the various tag treatments were not significantly different (Table 4), perhaps because all of the cattle in this test were on a single research station and some of the flies may have moved between the various treatment herds. In the Kentucky trial, the numbers of face flies on cattle with the "J" tags containing a reduced percentage of plasticizer did not differ significantly from the number On cattle with nO tags (Table 4). Cattle with the stapled On "S" tags had significantly fewer face flies (14) than did the untreated cattle (20.4); however, an average of 14 flies per face does not indicate satisfactory control. Tags containing 8% permethrin (52:48 cis:trans) provided significantly better control than did the commercial "Y" tags.

Tags colored blue, green, and yellow were tested to determine if dyes used to color the tags adversely affected efficacy. Data from Indiana and Kentucky (Table 4) show that these tags were as effective as the standard orange-colored uy" tag. Table 5 shows the release rates of permethrin from the various tags. Although there were too many variables to analyze these data statistically, the following trends were observed: (1) the average release rate from the tags increased as the percentage of permethrin in the tags increased, and (2) tags on cattle for 84 d released permethrin at a higher rate than did tags on cattle for over 100 d.

MILLER et al.: Ear Tags for Control of Horn Flies and Face Flies

267

Table 3, Average hom fly counts, in four states, on control cattle and on cattle with ear tags containing various formulations of permethrin, 1982-,

State Tag type I

Maryland

None

145.5 0 0 0 0.9

A

B C D

Missouri

a b b b b

73.7 0.6 2.7 0.6 0.1

a b b b b

Indiana

Kentucky

14.8 a

237.1 a

F G

1.9 b

H J K

2.5 b 2.3 b 1.7 b 2.0 b

S y

0.1 b

0.2 b

o o o

c c c

10.2 b o c

- Within. colWlUl, lIlelllS not toUMo'ed by • nllllfDOll letter ditt~ .It tbe 5~ level ecronlinl to Duncan'a lIlultiple rUlle

.."

t See Table 1 tor formub.tiooa of permethrin in difTerent tap.

Table 4. Average face fly counts, in four states, on control cattle and on cattle with ear tags containing various fonnulations of permethrin, 1982-.

State Tag type I

Maryland

None A

B C D

16.2 2.9 4.0 3.6 9.6

Missouri

a d d d b

13.2 6.9 9.1 5.6 4.9

a b b b b

Indiana

Kentucky

10.4 a

20.4 a

5.2 b

F G

4.6 b

H J K

S

y

6.3 c

3.3 c

5.2 b 4.8 b 4.6 b

4.5 d 3.8 d 15.7 ab 14.0 b 6.9 c

• Within I colulIln, lIlelllS oot tol/owed by • rolllmon letter dilfer al the 5% level Il:rordinl to Doncen'a multiple ranI' ...L

t

See T.ble 1 for tormulation.

ot pennethrin in different

tap.

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J. Agric. Entomol. VoL

1, No.3 (1984)

Table 5. Release rates of permethrin from ear tags while on cattle, 1982.

% Permethrin Tag type'

initial

A

10 10 8 6 8 8 8 8 10 10 10 10

B

C D F

G

Ht Ht J K

St St Y

10

yt

10 10

Yt

No. days on cattle 146 158 191 156 84 109 1I3 84 III 84 1I9 84 156 III 84

% Permethrin final 6.25 5.51 4.85 3.95 6.06 5.82 6.48 5.39 7.83 7.16 7.13 7.00 6.01 7.44 6.45

Avg. release rate (mg/day)

2.6 2.9 1.7

1.3 2.3 2.0 1.4 3.1 2.0 3.4 1.4 2.0 2.4 2.2 4.0

• See Table 1 (or rormulation' or pennethrin in different tag•.

Til!:' on KenWcky tatLle.

t

:I:

Tllgs

OJ!

IndiaD. altle.

REFERENCES CITED Knapp, F. W., and F. Herald. L980. Efficacy of permcthrin ear tags against face flies and horn flies on pastured cattle. Southwest. Entomol. 5: 183-186. Williams, R. E., and E. J. Westby. 1980. Evaluation of pyrethroids impregnated in cattle ear tags for control of face nies and horn flies. J. Ecan. Entomol. 73: 791·792. Williams, R. E.. E. J. Westby, K. S. Hendrix, and R. P. Lemenagcr. 1981. Usc of insecticide· impregnated ear tags for the control of face flies and horn flies on pastured cattle. J. Animal Sci. 53: 1159·1165.