THANY, S. H., TONG, F. and BLOOMQUIST, J. R. (2015), Pre-treatment of
Stegomyia aegypti mosquitoes with a sublethal dose of imidacloprid impairs behavioural avoidance induced by lemon oil and DEET. Medical and Veterinary Entomology, 29: 99?103. doi: 10.1111/mve.12082 [h=3]Keywords:[/h]
- Stegomyia aegypti;
- behaviour;
- DEET;
- imidacloprid;
- mosquito;
- repellency
[h=3]Abstract[/h] The present study was conducted to determine whether imidacloprid can impair the avoidance behaviour of the mosquito
Stegomyia aegypti. Laboratory investigations using a T-maze apparatus showed that
St. aegypti mosquitoes present long term avoidance behaviour when they are exposed to repetitive trials with lemon oil and DEET. The present study tested the effect of a sublethal dose of imidacloprid on the avoidance behaviour of
St. aegypti mosquitoes over a 48 h period. Data suggest that 0.5 ng of imidacloprid/mosquito reduces the avoidance behaviour of mosquitoes exposed to lemon oil, on the first day of exposure, after the second trial; whereas imidacloprid affected DEET repellency only the first day of exposure, after the second trial. Imidacloprid was toxic against
St. aegypti mosquitoes, and at sublethal doses was able to impair the repellency induced by lemon oil and DEET. The present data were consistent with the finding that
St. aegypti mosquitoes exhibit long term avoidance behaviour, and treatment of mosquitoes with a sublethal dose of imidacloprid under DEET application can affect the repellency of DEET against
St. aegypti.
