Adult house flies (Musca domestica L.) are important reservoirs and mechanical vectors of bacteria in livestock operations. House fly bacterial communities are influenced by their local environment, yet a comprehensive understanding of bacterial diversity, pathogen prevalence, and bacterial source is not fully understood.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFBackground: Fundamental investigations into the location, load, and persistence of microbes, whether beneficial or detrimental, are scarce. Many questions about the retention and survival of microbes on various surfaces, as well as the load necessary for spread, exist. To answer these questions, we must know more about where to find various microbes and in what concentrations, the composition of the microbial communities, and the extent of dissemination between various elements.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFFlies and other arthropods mechanically transmit multiple pathogens and a recent experimental study demonstrated house flies, Musca domestica L. (Diptera: Muscidae), can mechanically transmit SARS-CoV-2. The purpose of this study was to explore the possibility of mechanical transmission of SARS-CoV-2 by domestic insects and their potential as a xenosurveillance tool for detection of the virus.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFBackground: The stable fly, Stomoxys calcitrans, is a major blood-feeding pest of livestock that has near worldwide distribution, causing an annual cost of over $2 billion for control and product loss in the USA alone. Control of these flies has been limited to increased sanitary management practices and insecticide application for suppressing larval stages. Few genetic and molecular resources are available to help in developing novel methods for controlling stable flies.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFThe distribution of Dyar and Knab by county in Texas was updated by combining data from peer-reviewed literature, military and government reports, and university and private collections, and by collecting specimens from counties where data had not been reported. With 254 counties in Texas, the initial collection effort was focused on counties east of US Highway 277, which runs from Val Verde County on the US and Mexico border to Wichita County on the Texas and Oklahoma border. The study resulted in 127 counties with presence data.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFThe horn fly, Haematobia irritans (L.) (Diptera: Muscidae), is one of the most important pests of the beef cattle industry. Horn fly adults are blood feeders that remain in constant contact with cattle, providing management opportunities via insecticide-impregnated ear tags.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFBackground: Effective control of the lesser mealworm beetle, Alphitobius diaperinus, relies heavily on insecticides. The susceptibility level of beetles to these insecticides can be dependent on active ingredient, population treated, formulation, surface treated and timing of observation. The susceptibility of adult beetles from six populations to β-cyfluthrin was determined up to 48 h after exposure.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFChrysomya megacephala (F.) and Chrysomya rufifacies (Macquart) were colonized so that larval growth rates could be compared. Colonies were also established to provide insight into the protein needs of adult C.
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