Use of novel compounds for pest control: insecticidal and acaricidal activity of essential oil components from heartwood of Alaska yellow cedar.

Laboratory bioassays were conducted to determine the activity of 15 natural products isolated from essential oil components extracted from the heartwood of Alaska yellow cedar, Chamaecyparis nootkatensis (D. Don) Spach., against Ixodes scapularis Say nymphs, Xenopsylla cheopis (Rothchild), and Aedes aegypti (L.

Control of immature Ixodes scapularis (Acari: Ixodidae) on rodent reservoirs of Borrelia burgdorferi in a residential community of southeastern Connecticut.

A 3-yr community-based study was conducted on residential properties on Mason's Island, Mystic, CT, to determine the efficacy of a rodent-targeted acaricide (fipronil) to control immature Ixodes scapularis (Say) on Peromyscus leucopus. Results indicated that modified commercial bait boxes were effective as an acaricide delivery method for reducing nymphal and larval tick infestations on white-footed mice by 68 and 84%, respectively. Passive application of fipronil significantly reduced the infection rate of Borrelia burgdorferi among white-footed mice by 53%.

Genetic and ecologic characteristics of Bartonella communities in rodents in southern China.

Ecologic and bacteriologic observations of small mammals captured in Yunnan Province in the People's Republic of China indicated that Bartonella infections occurred at a high prevalence among some rodent species. Sequence analyses of the citrate synthase genes of these Bartonella demonstrated that rodents in this region harbored a diverse assemblage of strains. The Bartonella isolates obtained from Apodemus, Eothenomys, and Rattus typically clustered separately by genus of rodent host.