The daytime biting mosquito Aedes albopictus is a nuisance pest commonly found in suburban yards. The recommended course of treatment for Ae. albopictus is to keep yards free of water-holding containers; however, infestations may require additional control methods such as residual pesticide applications to vegetation. Five plants commonly found in yards or in uncultivated areas in Gainesville, FL were chosen as substrates for evaluation of the effectiveness of residual bifenthrin against 5-7-day-old female Ae. albopictus. Knockdown of mosquitoes after 1 h of exposure was highest the day of and 7 days after treatment. Plant species clearly impacted the effectiveness of residual bifenthrin. One-hour knockdown 7 days after treatment remained high (>62%) only on azalea and holly bush vegetation. Knockdown counts 24 h after exposure demonstrated that residual efficacy of bifenthrin was highest on azalea, with >77% mortality for up to 35 days. Additional bioassays revealed significant differences in the knockdown rates of male, female, gravid, and blood-fed Ae. albopictus exposed to residual bifenthrin treatments, with the highest knockdown observed on the day of and 7 days after treatment.

The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) light traps and Mosquito Magnet X (MMX) traps baited with dry ice, octenol, and a new formulation (granular) of carbon dioxide (CO2) were evaluated against adult mosquitoes in the field. The results showed that the MMX traps (68.6%) baited with dry ice collected more mosquitoes compared to the CDC light traps (32.4%) only. The CDC traps baited with dry ice (64%) collected significantly more mosquitoes than traps baited with CO2 sachets (11%) or octenol (23%). The MMX traps baited with dry ice (85.5%) collected significantly more mosquitoes than traps baited with CO2 sachets (6.5%) or octenol (9%). The CDC traps baited with the formulations of normal and slow release CO2 sachets collected more mosquitoes than the formulation of fast release sachets. The CDC traps baited with fresh sachets and 24-h-exposed sachets collected significantly more mosquitoes than the traps baited with 48-h- and 72-h-exposed sachets.

Past surveys of feral house fly populations have shown that Musca domestica salivary gland hypertrophy virus (MdSGHV) has a worldwide distribution, with an average prevalence varying between 0.5% and 10%. How this adult-specific virus persists in nature is unknown. In the present study, experiments were conducted to examine short-term transmission efficiency and longterm persistence of symptomatic MdSGHV infections in confined house fly populations. Average rates of disease transmission from virus-infected to healthy flies in small populations of 50 or 100 flies ranged from 3% to 24% and did not vary between three tested geographical strains that originated from different continents. Introduction of an initial proportion of 40% infected flies into fly populations did not result in epizootics. Instead, long-term observations demonstrated that MdSGHV infection levels declined over time, resulting in a 10% infection rate after passing through 10 filial generations. In all experiments, induced disease rates were significantly higher in male flies than in female flies and might be explained by male-specific behaviors that increased contact with viremic flies and/or virus-contaminated surfaces. Musca domestica salivary gland hypertrophy virus (MdSGHV) is a globally distributed, insect-pathogenic virus that infects adult house flies exclusively (13,21,31). This enveloped, nonoccluded, double-stranded DNA (dsDNA) virus causes symptomatic salivary gland hypertrophy (SGH) in both genders of M. domestica flies and suppresses ovarian development in infected females (7,22). Thus, it has the potential to act as a sterilizing agent upon introduction into fly populations. The prevalence of symptomatic MdSGHV infection in house fly populations generally ranges from 0.5% to 10%, but occasional peaks as high as 34% have been reported (12). It is unknown how MdSGHV persists over time in nature. Our past research has demonstrated that MdSGHV is acquired only by adult flies, replicates in the salivary glands, and is transmitted horizontally during feeding and after exposure to virus-contaminated surfaces (12, 23). During one short feeding event (lasting 2 to 3 s), an infected fly releases roughly 10 6 virions, and the released virus is infectious when consumed by healthy flies (12, 23). However, flies subjected to forcefeeding assays develop resistance to oral infection within 24 h after eclosion (31). Because feral flies are unlikely to commence foraging and feeding activities during this time window, the per os infection route alone does not appear to explain viral transmission and disease manifestation under natural conditions. Hitherto unidentified behaviors of and interactions between healthy and viremic flies may play a significant role in viral transmission and maintenance of viremia in fly populations.It is possible that gender-specific behaviors also influence the transmission efficiency of MdSGHV. Our past research has shown that both genders of M. domestica flies are equally susceptible to oral infection with MdSGHV in for...