Males and females of the common bed bug, Cimex lectularius L. (Heteroptera: Cimicidae), have been shown to produce and respond to an aggregation pheromone. We tested whether juvenile C. lectularius also produce and respond to aggregation pheromone, and whether the pheromone is perceived by contact chemoreception. In dual-choice laboratory experiments, juveniles, but not males or females, preferred juvenile-exposed paper discs to control discs. Unlike juveniles, males and females preferred male-exposed paper discs to control discs. Neither juveniles, males, nor females preferred female-exposed discs to control discs. When test stimuli were inaccessible, C. lectularius failed to show any preference. Male-and juvenile-specific contact pheromones may have contrasting functions of marking shelters as safe refugia for development and growth (juveniles) or mate encounter (adults), but result in the same phenomenon, the aggregation of conspecifics.

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Liquid or granular cyfluthrin was applied in the spring and fall to different test plots at a rate of 0.41 (AI) kg/ha to control Ixodes dammini Spielman, Clifford, Piesman & Corwin and Amblyomma americanum (L.). Spring application of liquid cyfluthrin showed the most significant decreases of both species. I. dammini nymphs were reduced 97% at 10 d, 100% at 2 mo, and 100% at 1 yr; and A. americanum adults and nymphs were reduced 91-93% at 10 d and 100% at 2 mo posttreatment. Granular cyfluthrin applied in the spring gave 97 and 87% control of nymphal I. dammini 10 d and 2 mo posttreatment, respectively.

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Fifteen micrometeorologic or microenvironmental parameters, including temperature, moisture, wind, and solar radiation, were repeatedly measured at 1 m and 2.5 cm aboveground, in the litter layer, and in the soil concurrently with drag samples of questing American dog tick, Dermacentor variabilis (Say), in five plots (1 by 10 m) in Delaware County, Ohio. Multivariate statistical analyses of the resultant data showed that ambient temperature was the best general predictor of adult tick host seeking under the observed ranges of the observed parameters. Multivariate procedures included forward stepwise multiple regressions and principal components analyses. Solar radiation was covariant with ambient temperature but was much less predictive. A suppression of questing activity with increased ambient temperature was evident at the highest observed temperatures, implying an upper temperature limit for this activity.