We tested two versions of a trap that captures climbing ticks on their dorsum. A prototype based on a decades old model had three components, a truncated pyramidal base with steep sloping walls, downward facing sticky-tape extending beyond and spanning the boundary of the flat upper surface, on which ticks become dorsally immobilized, and a reservoir for gaseous CO2 emission from dry ice that rests on the flat upper surface. A preoperational trap was made of thermoformed plastic and differed from the prototype by its circular structure, a central depression suitable for future housing of a biotic CO2 generator and supplemental volatile lures and a transparent sticky ceiling that enables ticks to exhibit a phototactic response and allows users to see captured ticks without disturbing the traps. Field testing of the prototype in Florida and both trap types in Oklahoma and North Carolina achieved high catches of lone star ticks, Amblyomma americanum (L.) (Acari: Ixodidae), e.g. mean catches of >70 ticks (adults plus nymphs) in 4 h in both the prototype and preoperational traps in North Carolina, and significantly higher yields of ticks than on dry ice baited 1 m2 white sheets.

An integral part to integrated mosquito management is to ensure chemical products used for area-wide control are effective against a susceptible population of mosquitoes. Prior to conducting an intervention trial using an insect growth regulator, pyriproxyfen, in South Texas to control Aedes aegypti, we conducted a larval bioassay to evaluate baseline levels of susceptibility. We used seven serially-diluted doses ranging from 2.5 ppb to 6.3 × 10−4 ppb. We observed 100% inhibition emergence (IE) at even the lowest dose of 6.3 × 10−4 ppb in our susceptible reference colony of Ae. aegypti Liverpool. In our field strain of Ae. aegypti (F5 colonized from South Texas) we observed 79.8% IE at 6.3 × 10−4 ppb, 17.7% IE at 1.25 × 10−3 ppb, 98.7% IE at 1.25 × 10−2 ppb, and 100% emergence inhibition for the remainder of the doses. Given that commercial pyriproxyfen products are labeled for doses ranging to 50 ppb, we conclude that the field population sampled by this study are susceptible to this insect growth regulator.