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Mosquito, Tick & Flying Insect Control Products for Public Health & Outdoor Recreation
Editors:
Dr. Charlie Morris, Vero Beach, FL
Dennis Moore, Ft. Myers . FL
Assistant
of the American Mosquito Control Association
Editors:
John Gamble., Daytona Beach , FL
James McNelly, Cape May Court House, NJ
Mary Peery, Ve ro Beach, FL
,
COLUMN EDITORS :
Biosynopsis
Dr. Charles Apperson, Raleigh, NC
Chip Chat
Thomas Floore, Panama City, FL
Crankcase Eddie
Ed Meehan, Howard Lake, MN
Fly Wheels
Jim Robinson, Odessa, FL
Going Public
Kellie Elherson, Gaines ville, FL
Industry
Dave Dame, Gainesville, FL
Nature's W ay
Dr. Eric Schreiber, Panama City, FL
Vector Bearing
Dr. Donald Shroyer, Vera Beach , FL
FLORIDA MOSQUITO CONTROL
ASSOCIATION
P.O. Box 11867
Jackson ville, FL 32311
904/743-4482 FAX 904{743-6879
I994-1995 BOARD OF DIRECTORS
PRESIDENT: Robert Ward, Punta Gorda, FL
PRESIDENT ELECT: W. Gene Baker, Tallahassee, FL
VICE-PRESIDENT : Alan Curtis, Vera Beach, FL
SECRETARY-TREASURER: Elisabeth Beck,
Jacksonville, FL
IMMEDIATE PAST PRESIDENT: Dr. Richard Baker.
Vero Beach, FL
N.W. REGIONAL DIRECTOR: Edward Hun ter,
Panama City Beach, FL
N.E. REGIONAL DIRECTOR: Richard Smith ,
Jacksonville, FL
S.W. REGIONAL DIRECTOR: William Opp,
Ft. Myers, FL
S.E. REGIONAL DIRECTOR: Joe Marhefka, Fort
Lauderdale, FL
AMERICAN MOSQUITO CONTROL
ASSOCIATION
2200 East Prien Lake Road
P.O. Box 5416
Lake Charles, LA 70606-54I6
318/474-2723 FAX: 318/478-9434
1995-1996 BOARD OF DIRECTORS
PRESIDENT: Dr. John D. Edman, Amherst, MA
PRESIDENT ELECT: Dr. Robert J. Novak. Champaign, IL
VICE-PRESIDENT: Dr. Ga ry G. Clark , San Juan, PR
PRESIDENT 1994: Dr. Chester G. Moo re, Fort Collins, CO
PRESIDENT 1993: Dr. John A. Mulrennan, Jr.,
Jacksonville, FL
TREASURER: Charles T . Palmisano, Slidell, LA
EXECIJlTVE DIRECTOR: Robert T . Graham, Lake
Charles, LA
REGIONAL DIRECTORS :
Canada: Dr. Barry Tyler, Orton , Canada
North Atlantic: Dr. Kenneth W. Ludlam , Kingston , MA
Mid-Atlantic: Dr. Bruce Harrison, W inston-Salem, NC
South Atlantic: Edgar A. Hughes, Mobile, AL
North Central: Dr. Linn Haramis, Springfield, IL
South Central: Lucas Terracina. Lake Charles, LA
West Central: Dr. Frederick Holbrook, Laramie, WY
No rth Pacific: Tom Haworth, Othello, W A
South Pacific: Dr. Charles Beesley, Clayton, CA
Latin American-Caribbean: Dr. Yadira Rangel,
Caracas, Venezuela
Industry Director: William J. Zawicki , Freehold , NJ
by the Florida Mosquito Control Association
Volume 6, Number 4
Winter 1995
CONTENTS
On the Books: ''EPA on B.t.i.'' ......................................................... 4
by Robert/. Rose, Ph.D.
Chemline: "Relative Activity Measurements are
the Best Guide to B.t.i. Selection'' ................................................... 6
by Brian Melin, Ph.D.
Pest Asides: "Mosquito Legends" ................................................... 8
by Native American Indians
Nature's Way: "Kill 'em from the Sea" .......................................... 11
by John Callahan, Dave Lavender and Edgar Crawford
Industry Beat: "Re-registration Costs Leave
Mosquito Control Few Options" ..................................................... 12
by Therese St. Peter and Allen Smith
Chemline: "Confusion in Margalitaville" ....................................... 16
by Doug Wassmer
Industry Beat: "LECO® Air Scrubber Prototype" ......................... 20
byKern Walcher
Crankcase Eddie: '"Air' Eddie" ..................................................... 22
by Ed Meehan
Under Surveillance: "Seven Ways to a
Successful Dipping Career" ............................................................ 23
by Claudia 0' Malley
Letters: ''Dear Charlie'' .................................................................. 26
from Lawrence E. Kase
Pest Asides: "The Mosquito Worker's Creed" ............................. 26
by Peter H. Connelly
The Florida Mosquito Control Association has not tested any of the products advertised or
referred to in this publication, nor has it verified any of the statements made in any of the advertisements or articles. The Association does not warrant, expressly or implied, the fitness of any product
advertised or the suitability of any advice or statements contained herein. Opinions expressed in this ·
publication are not necessarily the opinions or policies of the Florida Mosquito Control Association
or the American Mosquito Control Association .
1995 Florida Mosquito Control Association: All rights reserved. Reproduction in whole or
pat1 for educational purposes is permitted, without permission with proper citation.
WING BEATS: Published quarterly as the official publication of the Florida Mosquito Control Association. This publication is intended to keep all interested parties informed on matters as they relate to mosquito
.
control, particularly in the United States.
CORRESPONDENCE: Addres s all correspondence to Dennis Moore , Lee County Mosquito
Control District, P.O. Box 60005 , Fort Myers FL 33906-0005
ABOUT THE COVER: Frozen Mosquito by Michael Blackstock. Please see the article Mosquito Legends beginning on page 8 of this issue for more infom1ation.
On the Books
m
~
EPA ·on B.t.i.
Robert I. Rose
PROLOGUE
The following is a response from the
EPA to four documents sent by Doug
Wassmer of Pasco County Florida Mosquito Control District. The EPA responded to the documents as a review of
performance failure reports concerning
B.t.i.; a 405 6 (A) (2) ADVERSE DATA
action. The memo, dated 8/23/95 and
written by Robert I. Rose, Ph.D. is addressed to Michael Mendelson, Peer Reviewed by Clayton C. Beegle, Ph.D. and
sent to Doug Wassmer by Janet L.
Anderson, all (except Wassmer) of the
Biopesticides and Pollution Prevention
Division of the EPA, Washington, D.C.
The four documents reviewed were
the article "B .U. Revisited" by Dr. E. Van
Handel, D. Wassmer and D. Carlson in
the Spring 1995 issue of Wing Beats; the
two, independently submitted Letters to
the Editor from Dr. J.P. Siegel and Dr.
Terry L. Couch which appeared in the
Summer 1995 issue ofWing Beats and a
draft copy of the article "Confusion in
Margalitaville" which appears in this issue of Wing Beats.
TEXT OF MEMORANDUM
The Spring 1995 article in Wing Beats
mentioned occasional failures in performance of various B.t .i. brands and formulations in some Florida counties. In
addition to this mention were various less
than accurate statements and claims regarding EPA registration requirements for
B.t .i. products, product safety and B.t.i.
standardization. However, the description of the confusing way B.t.i. is competitively marketed based on different
bioassay procedures is accurate and this
problem has existed since the initiation
of B.t.i. sales in the USA. The inaccuracies in the publication were subsequently
addressed and rectified in letters to the
editor of Wing Beats from Drs. Siegel and
4
WINTER 1995, WING BEATS
Couch. These letters were published in
the summer 1995 edition of Wing Beats.
Dr. Couch provided the reference for bioassay standardization used by mostB.t.i.
producers in the USA which is:
McLaughlin, R.E., H.T. Dulmage, R. Ails,
T.L. Couch, I.M. Hall, D.A. Dame, R.I.
Rose and P.L. Versoi. 1984. U.S. Standard Bioassay for the Potency Assess-
OEPA
ment of Bacillus thuringiens.is serotype
H-14 against Mosquito Larvae. Bull .
Entomol. Soc. Amer. One of the manufacturers used a different type of bioassay which made their B.t.i. products appear more active and this was the source
of the product comparison problems. The
second
article
[Confusion
in
Margalitaville, Editor] is a sequel to the
first, but focuses more on the product
comparison problem. This time the author incorporated some comments from a
panel of B.t.i. and mosquito control experts. The title [revised, Editor] "Confusion in Margalitaville'' refers to Dr. Joel
Margalit who discovered B.t.i. in Israel,
but has never commercially marketed it
and was not involved in bioassay standardization.
The [original] article and its sequel
do not constitute adverse 6 (A) (2) data
because no specific incidences or sites
were reported and no control failure documentation or data were provided to substantiate the general allegations of occa-
sional B .t.i. product performance failure.
In further support for the articles not
constituting adverse 6 (A) (2) data, the
use of various brands and formulations
of B.t.i. is complicated because of various environmental factors that affect
control performance. Application to late
instar larvae may fail because a large proportion may be entering pupation and do
not feed on the B.t.i. particles. High organic content and suspended material in
the mosquito larvae feeding zone may
dilute the effect of B .t.i. by providing
competitive substrates upon which the
larvae may feed. Certain mosquito larvae
feed near the surface and B.t.i. particles
may pass through their feeding zones
before they have a chance to ingest a
lethal dose. Rains shortly after a B.t.i.
application may wash it away and winds
may interfere with application. Equipment
may be miscalibrated and applications
irregular. So~e larval habitats may be temporary or unknown to the applicators providing reservoirs of mosquitoes that may
enter communities. Large numbers of
adult mosquitoes may emerge from such
missed habitats, even though they may
be small, thus creating the appearance of
control failures from known and treated
habitats. Timing is critical since B .t.i. is
short lived in the environment as it is
easily broken down by benthic microorganisms and other fauna. In the subtropical conditions of Florida, breakdown may
be very rapid and mosquito larval populations also develop rapidly, thus contributing to precise timing requirements
for effective control.
In summary, proper use of B.t.i. is
critical and requires significant expertise,
well calibrated equipment, correct timing,
good surveillance and monitoring of mosquito populations as well as an environment conducive to its use. Control failures may be expected if errors are made
in the use of B.t.i. products.
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E L S E
I
•
Chern line
Relative Activity
Measurements are the Best
Guide to B .t.i. Selection
Brian Melin, Ph.D.
required to achieve effective control.
Percent Dipteran Active toxic units is
a new tenn that apparently refers to a gel
electrophoretic method of determining what
percent of a formulation contains toxic
components.
CONSIDER FORMULATION, TOO
Mosquito control professionals also
should consider the impact of fonnulation
Mosquito control professionals have
can make selecting the proper product for
on product efficacy. Fonnulation ingredia host of decisions to make each day. Sea specific application difficult. An underents may play a key role in B.t.i. product
lecting the correct pesticide for the spestanding of how these measurements reperformance. Unlike chemical insecticides,
cific application is one of the most critical.
late to each other can be helpful.
the protein toxin in B .t.i. products can deIncreasing public concern for environmenThe original measure of B.t.i. activity
grade in stomge. Properly designed fonnutal safety has placed greater restrictions
was the ITU, which was established sevlations can greatly extend the shelf life of
eral years ago by the Pasteur Institute in
on pesticide use in America. One result of
B.t.i. products. Manufacturing processes
France and the World Health Organization.
this trend is a greater role for biological mosalso determine the size of theB.t.i. particles.
A product 's ITU measure is established by
quito larvicides. Biological larvicides offer
The size of the particles must be carefully
mosquito bioassay using Aedes aegypti
some real advantages in the development of
controlled
to ensure that filter-feeding mosan effective, environmentally benign and inas the test species. The AAITU measure is
quito
larvae
ingest a lethal dose.
tegrated approach to mosquito control.
the same as the ITU.
The
result
is the most effective and
Each AA Unit, however, represents
B.t.i. is a highly selective biological
of larval control of any
reliable
measure
less activity than an ITU or AAITU, differlarvicide used to control mosquitoes and
B
.t.i.
product.
black fly larvae. Because of its selective
ing by a factor of2.5. Dividing the AA Unit
value by 2.5 gives the ITU equivalent. To
activity, B.t.i. does not harm mosquito
convert ITU measures to AA Unit values,
predators such as fish, frogs and other inmultiply the ITU number by 2.5.
sects that contribute significantly to larval
A simpler approach to selection of the
control. B .t.i. also is non-hazardous to huproper product is to list the labeled appliman, livestock , pets and other forms oflife.
cation rates, then compare the recomOne other significant edge for biological
. mended pints or pounds per acre and cost
larvicides is the absence of field resistance
to B.t.i. products, even when used repeatedly for over 15 years. The development
of insect resistance to some chemical larvicides-a trend that is likely to increase-has created additional opportunities for
microbial products, so familiarity with the .
A totally reen gineered, state of th e art
use of B.t.i. products will be essential.
generator, th e Model1 8·20 makes mosquito
london Aire Modet 18-20
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POTENCY MEASUREMENTS
Mosquito control professionals have
several B.t.i. products to select from. Although each has its relative activity expressed on the label, the measures of potency or activity may be different from product to product. For example, the active ingredient may be stated in several ways:
1) in ITUs or International Toxicity Units
2) in AA units, with AA standing for
Aedes aegypti
3) as AAITU, or Aedes aegypti International Toxicity Units
4) as% Dipteran Active Toxin
5) or as a combination of some of the
above.
The variation in measurement systems
6
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·· Pest Asides·"
M~squito Legends . -·
Native ·Ameiican Indians
Two of the great unanswered questions are where did mosquitoes come
from and why are they here. Rhetorical
questions perhaps, but nonetheless, because of mosquitoes' universal maliciousness, questions that humankind has
demanded answers for, demands which
have led to answers without reason or
logic. The poem by Australian prisoner,
James McPherson, in the Fall issue of
Wing Beats and the cover of this issue
reflect how an unconquered foe can lead
intelligent men , and presumably women,
to step beyond reason for explanations
by native North Americans exposed for
about 10,000 years to native mosquitoes,
for the origin of our common foe.
FROZEN MOSQUITO
The cover of this Wing Beats by native Canadian, Michael Blackstock, entitled Frozen Mosquito, was inspired by
the Tsimshian legend translated in 1954
by William Benyon.
It goes: "In ancient times , blood
sucking animals in human form used to
invite travellers to their village and then
drain their victims ' blood by stabbing
their long crystal noses into the unsuspecting people's necks while they slept.
One young man awoke in time to discover
the villagers' secret and save himself. He
fled from the village with the chief in hot
pursuit. The chief tracked the young man
to a lake where the man had hidden in a
tree on the shore . The chief, exhausted
and soaked, tried to attack the man 's reflection in the water and then , while resting on the shore, the chief froze solid.
The young man and his people took the
frozen chief and burned him to ashes .
When the fire had burned out, a wind
came up and blew the ashes in the air
where they turned into clouds of mosquitoes."
Michael Blackstock was born in 1961
and has been doing native art since he
8
WINTER 1995, WING BEATS
.·
was 25 years old. A self taught artist, Michael is a status native with
the Gitanmax Band in Hazelton, British Columbia, as well as a professional forester. An original Michael
Blackstock painting entitled The
Watchmen hangs in the British
Columbian Legislature. Three of
his prints are sold out and his art
can be found in many fine native
art galleries throughout British Columbia. He has recently been chosen to represent the Prince George
region in the Provincial J uried Art
Show, Objects and Images.
Michael believes in offering
small, limited edition print runs of
the highest quality. Fro zen Mosquito
was printed in Victoria, British Columbia
by the world famous Pacific Editions Limited Workshop in February, 1995. The
edition consists of 100 prints ( 10"x14"):
1 Printer's Proof, 10 Artist's Proofs and
89 signed and numbered copies. The work
was commissioned to commemorate the
199 5 Annual General Meeting of the Entomological Societies of Canada and British Columbia. To order, contact Robb
Bennett, ESBC Secretary, c/o British
Columbian Ministry of Forests, 7380
Puckle Road, Saanichton, B.C. Canada
V8M 1W4; 604-652-5600; fax: 604-6524204; rgbennet@mforO l.for.gov.bc.ca
A MESSAGE FROM THE AKWESASNE
COUNSELOR ORGANIZATION
Native Americans have their own
version, perhaps versions, of the origin
of mosquitoes story. Here is how the
Mohawks of New York see it. Not only
does their legend "explain" the origin, it
was dedicated to a Chief. But, wait, let
them tell it in their own words (translated
of course).
We, the Akwesasne Counselor Organization from the St. Regis Reservation, dedicate this forest legend, Why We
.
Have Mosquitoes, to Chief Alex White
or Sa-te-ka-re-wa-te of the Big Turtle Clan
for the untiring work that he has done
toward the uplifting of his people, the
Mohawk Indians, and for his efforts to
win for the Six Nations recognition of
their treaty rights.
We salute Sa-te-ka-re-wa-te! We feel
grateful to him for the work he has done
for us, his people. We ask our Creator to
give us more men of such minds and
strong hearts!
WHY WE HAVE MOSQUITOES
Long ago there were no mosquitoes.
One day two giant mosquitoes appeared
on either side of a river. These large creatures were as tall as a good sized pine
tree. As the Indian people paddled down
the river in their canoes, these giant creatures would bend their heads and attack
the people with their giant bills. The mosquitoes killed many people. Very few ever
lived to tell of the attack.
Knowing that these giant mosquitoes
were waiting to attack any canoe that
floated down the river, the people began
to shun this particular stream. It was then
that these giant creatures moved to other
streams to seek their prey. For a time, it
was a reign of terror for the Iroquois who
were great canoe travelers. They never
knew just when these giant mosquitoes
would pounce upon and devour them.
Finally, in desperation, a war party
was organized to seek out these creatures and destroy them. Twenty warriors
in two great canoes floated down a river
where they expected the mosquitoes to
be. In their hands, ever ready, they held
their bows and arrows. Fastened in their
belts, were their war clubs and hunting
knives.
Suddenly, two huge shadows
loomed over them and a giant beak
pierced one of the canoes. Giving their
war cry, the warriors filled the air with
many arrows. The battle was terrific. The
giant mosquitoes seemed to be everywhere at the same time. In a little while
half of the warriors had been killed. The
ten remaining braves determined to die
courageously. Singing their death song,
they attacked the huge creatures on land.
They hid behind the trees and bushes
and surrounded the mosquitoes, who
were unable to get at them because of
the thick branches. The Indians buried
many of their arrows in the bodies of the
two mosquitoes.
Finally, after most of the arrows had
been shot and the supply was very low,
the two mosquitoes fell to the earth, covered with many wounds. Immediately, the
warriors fell upon them with their war
clubs and -with terrific blows- tore their
bodies apart.
From the blood of the two big mosquitoes there sprang many little mosquitoes and the air was filled with them.
These little mosquitoes, like their grandfathers, are fond of the taste of human
blood. They hate man for killing their
grandfathers and are continually trying
to get revenge upon man for this.
That is how mosquitoes came to be.
The battles between man and the mosquitoes took place upon the Seneca River
in New York State.
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Our thanks to Peter Belton of
Simon Fraser University for sending
in the Frozen Mosquilo and to Howard
C. Miller of the State University of
New York's College of Environmen·
tal Science and Forestry for sharing
the Mohawk legend with editor
Charlie Morris 20 years ago.
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l
Nature's Way
Kill 'em from the Seas
John Callahan, Dave Lavender and Edgar Cra'.'.ford
In wartime , it's customary for the aggressor to prepare an enemy for invasion
by naval bombardment. While the aggressor coordinates future ground attacks, the enemy 's numbers are decimated
from the sea. Battleships bombard the
coastline and submarines destroy the
enemy flee t. Of course, a land battl e is
not usua lly won by sea, but integrated
plans are a phenomenal asset when
searching for a victory.
For the pest controller, the "Kill 'em
from the Sea" concept can easily be earmarked for mosquito control. After all ,
the mosquito begins its life in the water,
so why wait to attack? Carpe diem or,
more appropriately, ca1p e pisces, seize
the fish - the mosquitofish that is. But
before you grab your corn-cob pipe and
utter "I shall return," there are som e interesting facts that you should be familiar with in order to optimize the use of
your Gambusia affinis fleet. Please refer
to the following (mock) naval message
FIG URE 1
traffic:
Oh , and after readin g the message
traffic, don ' t assume that every minnow
you've captured is a skeeter-crazed killing machine. The mosquitofish looks a
DRAWING BY NANCY MICKLER
lot like other small fishes that you may
encounter, but most of these other fishes
don ' t have the same Freddy Kruger demeanor towards mosquito larvae that is
so noteworthy in Gambusia. For those
unfamiliar with the schematics of our fleet,
please consult figure 1. If you're still
unclear then try a field guide like
Peterson's Freshwater Fishes by L. M.
Page and B. M. Burr.
Intrigued by the versatility and lowmaintenance offered by mosquitofish
(and the opportunity to "play" Chester
Nimitz for a month), we decided to put
our fleet into service. We conscripted
our Gambusia af!inis from nearby waters
-capturing 275 of the hunter/killer submarines with hand-nets in about one
hour. Next, we distributed the fleet to
two large rain-filled puddles in a Florida
pine hammock. Our stocking rates were
0.1 fish/yd 2 and 1.0 fish/yd 2 • We didn't
prepare the mosquitofish for service, we
simply captured, identified, counted and
transferred them to a nearby site. The
whole mission, from capture to transfer,
lasted approximately two hours.
Prior to impressing the mosquitofish,
we gathered intelligence about our mosquito foe by capturing and interrogating
some larvae. Limited by the Geneva Convention, our interrogations yielded little
information. But we were allowed to rear
the larvae for identification : the longstanding puddles were inhabited by
Culex restuans, Culex territans, Aedes
continued on page 12
WINTER 1995, WING BEATS
11
lnd ustry.Beat
. Re-~registration C·osts Leave
. . . . . . . ,_,. . . . ;. . __,·Mosquito · Co~trol . F.e\Y Options·:
reflects the importance of maintaining the
availability of the product to the industry. We have the support of mosquito
control professionals and are doing everything we can to ensure it continues to
be a vital tool.
· ·. Therese·St,?eter' and Alle~l Sinith
Among other things, mosquito control requires the knowledge to choose the
best option among available insecticides,
but the choice is becoming more difficult
with fewer available products. Many pesticide registrations simply are not being
renewed under the Federal Insecticide,
Fungicide and Rodenticide Act (FIFRA)
because of the high cost of product re-registration; as high as $14 million for one product.
THE RE-REGISTRATION PROCESS:
THE STUDY OF NALED
To understand the process, we will
follow the re-registration of naled, the active ingredient in the commonly used mosquito adulticide called Dibrom® Concentrate, originally registered in 1962.
The re-registration process of chemicals such as naled began in 1983 when the
EPA released Registration Standards for
products which had long served the market. While these products had fairly extensive research studies supporting their use
already, the EPA wanted to ensure the data
met the scientific standards of the day.
Through the registration standards, the
EPA told the registrants what work would
be needed to continue the registration. For
naled, between 1983 and 1988, over 100
new studies were done on the product.
In September 1991, the EPA issued a
Data Call-in for a number of additional studies on naled and a host of other chemicals
in yet another phase of research review for
pesticides. The data required for naled included several studies costing nearly
$500,000.
In Aprill994, Valent completed all of
the naled re-registration and call-in testing and submitted that data to the EPA
RED (Re-registration Eligibility document) Team. As is customary for all pesticide data call-in programs, the RED
Team, which includes representatives
from numerous science and administra-
12
WINTER 1995, WING BEATS
tive branches within the office of Pesticide Programs, will use the data to assess risk to humans and to the environment from the use of the chemical. The
Team will then make a recommendation
whether or not naled will be eligible for
re-registration. That eligibility recommendation is anticipated by the end of
1995.
Valent also made a special presentation to the RED Team, demonstrating use
patterns and the importance of naled in
mosquito control. We showed the EPA
that while Dibrom is labeled for many
uses, over one-half of total sales in 1993
were specifically for mosquito control.
Dibrom is useful in mosquito control
programs because it can be applied near
water, and is one of the few adulticides
for flying mosquitoes still registered for
aerial control. It is also widely used fol lowing natural disasters like Hurricane
Andrew, when fly and mosquito infestations can endanger public health. Importantly, it has a tolerance for crops exposed
during mosquito control efforts.
RE-REGISTRATION OR CANCELLATION: COST VERSUS COMMITMENT
Even considering the unique benefits that Dibrom offers, Valent still had
to determine whether re-registration
study costs were justifiable. The only
alternative to re-registration was voluntary cancellation of the product. In fact,
for that reason, a number of chemical
manufacturers have declined to renew
registrations and have withdrawn products from the market.
The expense involved in re-registration forced careful consideration of
Valent's commitment to Dibrom. For example, in just three years, re-registration
studies conducted on naled total ed
nearly $2 million. Another $3 million was
spent in 1994. Valent's financial commitment to conduct the necessary studies
continued from page 11
infirmatus and Aedes sticticus according to LCDR T. P. Breaud, a retired Naval Medical Entomologist and now director of mosquito control for Orange
County, Fla. (Orlando). Throughout our
mosquitofish operation we checked the
population of mosquito larvae in each
puddle by dipping twice weekly. We
compared the larval numbers to a control
puddle that had not been ravaged by our
fleet. Within nine days we noticed a
reduction of larvae based upon these
comparisons; the higher stocking rate
caused more reduction than the lower
stocking rate. During the remaining 20
days, the number of larvae declined in
our treated puddles while the number
in the untreated puddle increased.
Although the quantity of mosquito
larvae were reduced by our Gambusia
ajjinis, their use alone did not guarantee
a victory during the Battle of the Flooded
Florida Pine Hammock. While our general staff plots the conclusion of this as sault, our fleet will be there, sweeping
skeeter convoys and thinning the
arthropod ' s ranks, until our air force
can mount an Ultra Low Volume attack
and complete the decimation of our foe.
..·
\
''A Person is Known
by the Company They Keep!''
ADAPCO offers the most complete range of quality products for mosquito
control. There's a reason for our suppliers' confidence in our ability to
represent them - give us a call and we'll be glad to show you!
ADAPCO, INC.
2800 SOUTH FINANCIAL COURT
SANFORD, FLORIDA 32773-8118 U.S.A.
(407) 330-4800 800 367-0659 (SANFORD, FL) FAX (407) 330-9888
TM
ENGINEERING
DIVISION
1. MR. IKE DYALS
VECTEC, INC.
Orlando, Fl 32807
1 (800) 367-1299
2.
MR. BILL CHANDLER
VECTEC , INC.
Macon, GA 31206
1(800) 755-BUGS (2847)
BISON
3. MR. WALT LEVANDER
VECTEC, INC.
Monroe, LA 71201
1(800) 659-2847
4.
MR. ED MEEHAN
VECTEC ENGINEERING DIVISION
Rogers, MN 55374
1 (800) 859-BUGS {2847)
5.
MR. H.B. MUNNS
FENNIMORE CHEMICALS
Pioneer, CA 95666
1 (209) 295-3540
GRIZZLY
.
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6.
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COASTAL VECTOR SUPPLY CO .
Johns Island, SC 29455
1 (800) 277-0722
7.
MR. DAVE HASKELL
MUG-A-BUG
Forsyth, IL 62535
1 (800) 383-3303
8.
MR. MILLS REEVES
PUBLIC HEALTH EQUIP. & SUPPLY
San Antonio, TX. 7821 0
1 (800) 284-01 06
9.
MR. REG . GREEN
RELIABLE LABS
Sandy, UT 84092
1 (80 1) 942-1685
10.
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CITY CHEMICAL SERVICES
1851 11 Oth Street
Bode , lA. 50519
1 (515) 379 -2633
COAST TO COAST
. Ctiemiine · · · ·-
=·· ..
,Confusion·.bt'Margalitaville
_. £!olf8 _
Wassmer .
During a recent gathering of Florida
active ingredients or ask yourself wh ich
Sandoz/Zoecon with Teknar HP-D, premosquito control folks interested in disproduct contained the most bang for the
fer to analyze potency with a procedure
covering the key to efficacious B.t.i .
buck? If you had, here is some of what
that requires reportin g in AAUs, but also
treatments, John Beidler, Director of the
report in ITUs. Other manufacturers,
you would have found.
Indian River Mosquito Control District,
such as American Cyanamid with Aerobe
asked, to the tune of an old Jimmy Buffet
formulations , Abbot Laboratories with
ALPHABET SOUP
song, "Are we wasting our time, again ,
Vectobac and Becker Microbials with
in Margalitaville?" The question was a
Aquabac prefer potency analyses reThe active ingredients (AI) in B.t.i.
tongue-in-c heek reference to the scienported in ITUs. Novo Nordisk reports
are listed as either Aedes aegypti Units
one or the other with their Bactimos prod(AAUs) or International Toxic Units
tific work of J. Margalit, L.J. Goldberg
ucts, depending on the formulation.
and others; significant work that led to
(ITUs). Some manufacturers, such as
today 's commerciaiB.r.i. products.
Table I. Active Ingredients (AAUs and ITUs) of various B.t.i. mos uitocides listed by formulation type.
Beidler's comment
Pesticide formulation
Manufacturer
Label Date Units_per millig ram
Mil. units/gallon
Mil. units/pound
simply reflects the
ITU
ITU
AAU
ITU
AAU
AAU
confusion
the
group has about
Briquets
some B.t.i. related
Bactimos Briquets
700*
280
636
318
Novo Nordisk
1987
issues.
Granules
QUESTIONS,
QUESTIONS,
QUESTIONS
Did you ever
wonder why manufacturers and their
represen ta ti ves
tell us to pay attention toB.t .i. application rates in
terms of pounds ,
pints or ounces of
formulation per
acre, and not concern ourselves
wit11 the amount of
active ingredients
applied per acre?
Did you ever take
the time to compare application
rates of B.t.i. formulations in terms
of their active ingredients? Did you
ever wonder about
the unit cost of the
16
Aerobe 2000
Americrul_(:Jianamid
1993
500
200"'
227
91*
Aquabac 200G
Becker Microbials
1995
500
200
227
9 1*
Bactimos Granules
Novo Nordi sk
1993
500
200*
227
9 1*
Bactimos Granules
Novo Nordisk
1991
300*
120
136*
54
Bactimos Granules
Biochem/PBI Gordon
1987
175*
70
79*
32
Teknar Granules
Zoecon
1986
260*
10 4
118
47
Vectobac G&CG
Abbott
1992
500
200*
227
91*
Aerobe Biolarvicide
American Cyanamid
1993
3000
1200*
1362
545
12100
4840*
Aquabac XT
Becker Microbials
1995
3000
1200*
1362
545
12100
4840*
Skeetal FC
Microbial Resources
1986
1400*
600*
636
272
5300
2271
Teknar HP-D
Sando7./Zoecon
1994
3000*
1200*
1362*
545*
11 200
4480
Teknar
:U.econ
1984
1500*
600
68 1
272
5600
2240
Vectobac 12AS
Abbott
1992
3000*
1200*
1362
545
12100
4840*
Vectobac AS
Abbott
1988
1500
600"
681
272
5475
2190"
Novo Nordisk
1993
100
400*
454
182
Bactimos WP
Novo Nordisk
1993
3500*
1400
1590*
636
Vectobac TP
Abbott
1994
12500
5000*
5687
2275
VectobacWP
Abbott
1982
5000*
2000
2270*
908
Liquids
Pellets
Bactimos Pellets
Powders
*Values with an asterisk are stated on the product label, the others are calculated using appropriate AA U!lTU
conversion rates.
WINTER 1995, WING BEATS
"
Also, some Bactimos labels contain the
words "Aedes aegypti (AA)" printed just
before "International Toxic Units (ITU)."
Mike King of Novo Nordisk says,
"These are just ITUs, and the mention of
AA is for internal use to distinguish the
assay type."
The AAU to ITU and ITU to AAU
conversion factors, apparently arrived at
statistically by comparing the amount of
B.t.i. required to kill target organisms with
the two assay methods, are the key to
understanding the differences between
products. Rumor has it that these conversion rates were first published in a
Zoecon product brochure in the early
1980s, but I haven't been able to confirm
this. According to experts, it takes, on
the average, 2.5 times as much B.t.i. to
kill later' in star Aedes aegypti larvae assayed by the ITU method than it does to
kill earlier in star Aedes aegypti larvae assayed by the AAU method. Therefore,
in simple terms, we can say: ITU multiplied by 2.5 equals AAU or, conversely,
AAU multiplied by 0.4 equals ITU. According to Terry Couch of Becker
Microbials, these are the only conversion factors used today. Skeetal, a B.t.i.
product marketed by Microbial Resources in the mid-1980s, which is no
longer available, listed both AAUs and
ITUs on the label. Its AAU/ITU conversion factors were, by my calculations, 2.33
and 0.43, not 2.5 and 0.4.
It is interesting that Joel Siegel and
his colleagues, in their June 1995 Journal of the AMCA article, Cellular Fatty
Table 2. Some B.t.i. mosquitocide AAU and ITU application rates.
Pesticide
Millions of AAUs per acre
Millions of ITUs per acre
Minimum
Maximum
Minimum
Maximum
330
132
320
528
Aerobe 2000
568
4540
227
1816
Aquabac 200G
568
4540
227
1816
Bactimos Granules '93
568
4540
227
1816
Bactimos Granules '91
545
2274
217
1'090
Bactimos Granules '87
318
1589
127
636
Teknar Granules
354
708
142
283
Vectobac G&CG
568
4540
227
1816
Aerobe BiolaJVicide
378
3025
151
1210
AquabacXT
378
3025
151
1210
Skeetal FC
331
1325
142
568
Teknar & Teknar HP-D
350
1400
140
560
Vectobac AS & 12AS
378
3025
161
1210
568
3632
227
1452
Bactimos WP
199
1193
80
477
Vectobac TP
1137
4550
455*
1820*
Vectobac WP
227
1816
91
726
Briquets
Bactimos Briquets
Granules
Liquids
Pellets
Bactimos Pellets
Powders
*Values with an asterisk are stated on the product label, the others are
calculated using product density an appropriate AAU/ITU conversion rates.
Acid Analysis of Bacillus thuringiensis
spp. israel ens is (ONR-60A), reported that
Skeetal does not appear to have come
from isolate 60A via IPS82 (1982 Institute Pasteur Standard), whereas Aerobe,
Bactimos, Teknar and Vectobac do.
Aquabac was not tested. Thus, most
commercialB.t.i. formulations produced
today appear to come from the sameB.t.i.
strain and can, therefore, be directly compared to each other for relative potency
by looking (converting as necessary) at
label AAUs and ITUs as shown in Table
1.
FORMULATIONS AND RATES
In the mid-l980s,B.t.i.liquid larvicides were changed from what was considered a IX formulation (600 ITU/mg) to
a 2X formulation (1200 ITU/mg). Terry
Couch says " ... this win-win-win change
accommodated end-users who had complained about too many containers to dispose of, decreased handling time for distributors and allowed manufacturers to
save on packaging and shipping costs."
Four liquid formulations used today,
Aerobe Biolarvicide, Aquabac XT, Teknar
HP-D and Vectobac 12AS, have an
equivalent potency in terms of ITUs/mg.
However, Aerobe Biolarvicide, Aquabac
XT and Vectobac 12AS have a higher
stated potency of 4,840 million ITUs/gal
than the calculated potency of Teknar HPD (4,480 million ITUs/gal). These differences are most likely the result of differences in the products' density. That is,
if one liquid product weighs more than
the other, it could contain more active
ingredients.
The minimum and maximum application rates listed in Table 2 came from the
labels (converted where necessary) or
Material Safety Data Sheets. For
Bactimos Briquets, I assumed a constant
rate of release (l/30th the listed AI for 30
days) and the values are total AAUs and
ITUs per day, which seem reasonable
considering thatB.t.i. is supposed to last
about 24 hours in the field and the
product's label suggests it can kill mosquitoes for 30 days or more. Vectobac TP
is the only formulation thatactually lists
application rates in terms of active ingredients (0.455 to 1.820 billion ITU/acre).
If Abbott can be specific for Vectobac
TP, why can't all B.t.i.labels be specific?
WINTER 1995, WING BEATS
17
..
Table 3. The cost per 100 million AAUs and ITUs of various B.t.i. mosquitocide in the 1994-1995
Florida marketplace. Aquabac products were not available in 1994-1995.
Pesticide
Cost
Per Ounce
Cost per acre
Per pound
Per 100
Per100
Minimum
Maximum
or gallon
mil. AAUs
mil. ITUs
rate
rate
$1.53
24.48
3.08
7.71
10.89*
43.56*
Bactimos Granules '93
0.08
1.21
0.53
1.33
3.03
24.20
Vectobac G&CG
0.08
1.21
0.53
1.33
3.03
24.20
Teknar HP-D
0 .20
25.00
0 .22
0 .56
0.78
3.12
Vectobac 12AS
0.20
25.00
0.21
0.52
0.78
6.25
0.15
2.34
0.52
1.29
2.93
18.72
Bactimos WP
0.61
9.75
0 .61
1.53
1.22
7.31
Vectobac TP
0.16
25.00
0.44
1.10
5.00
20.00
Briquets
Bactimos Briquets
Granules
Liquids
Pellets
Bactimos Pellets
Powders
* Estimate cost per day
Did you notice the big differences
among application rates in Table 2? The
minimum rate ranges from about 80-455
million ITUs per acre (200-1, 138 million
AAUs) , not counting Bactimos Briquets.
The difference between the low and high
values is about 570%. Similarly, the difference between the low and high values
of the maximum rates, which range from
about 283-1,820 million ITUs (708-4 ,550
million AAUs) is about 640%. These
spreads among minima and maxima, respectively, approach or exceed the difference between the minimum and maximum application rates on some labels. For
example, the maximum rate for Bactimos
Pellets (3,632) is 639% higher than the
minimum rate (568). In some cases, the
maximum application rate of one formulation ( 1,193 milli on A AUs for Bactimos
WP) is very near the minimum application rate of another (1,137 million AAUs
18
WINTER 1995, WING BEATS
for Vectobac TP). It seems each manufacturer has a different idea of how much
AI it takes to kill presumably lab-reared
Aedes aegypti larvae . How did they arrive at these widely varying numbers and
how do they expect us to believe in them?
And, why did the EPA approve such diversity in rates. See the article by R. I.
Rose in this issue.
The overall "looseness" of application rates leaves plenty of room for the
"salespersonship" we see on occasion.
For example, I recently talked to one Midwest mosquito control director who was
told by his local distributor that, because
the maximum label rate ofTeknar HP-D is
half that of Vectobac 12AS, you only
need to use half as much , making Teknar
twice as good. The distributor suggested
that at a price of about $39 .00 a gallon,
the director would actually save money,
compared to buying Vectobac 12AS of-
fered at about $23.00 a gallon. How would
you decide at a bid opening session in
front of your commissioners?
Jim Robinson , of the Pasco County
Mosquito Control District in Odessa,
Florida, has been asking for years how
one should write a B.t.i. bid specification, and how one should select between
two or three liquid larvicides offered at
the same price? Would the two products
have the same cost per acre (Table 3) at
their minimum pints per acre application
rate? Joel Siegel ' s group found that
Aerobe, Bactimos , Teknar and Vectobac
products are made from the same B.t.i.
strain and their labels indicate they have
the same B.t.i. con centration per mg;
Aquabac products were. not analyzed.
They appear equivalent at lower rates,
however, their different densities result
in different concentrations of AI. Why
don't some sales reps exploit this fact?
Now you see ~m ...
...soon you won't.
If we have anything to do
with it, mosquitoes don't have a
chance. Abate Pellets are the
most cost-effective larvicide.
Our superior adulticides like
Biomist and Mosquitomist make
sure mosquitoes are knocked
down within minutes.
Biodegradable ~md non-corrosive, these products offer the
lowest toxicity available tQday.
We're proud of our new
state-of-the-art formulating
facility. It assures you fast turn-
around on your order, while
demonstrating Clarkes' commitment to the industry. Unlike
other companies that come and
go, our 48 years in the industry
represent stability, a commitment to quality and a vision for
the future.
Don't give mosquitoes a
chance. Call Clarke.
1-800-323-5727
<I.CLARK~ ·
At their respective maximum rates, the
Vectobac 12AS and Aerobe Biolarvicide
labels allow, or is it require, one to apply two pints instead of one, as does
the Teknar label. Don't you wonder
why?
DO IT YOURSELF
Pasco County Mosquito Control
District uses about 50 ,000 pounds of
B.t .i. granules a year and last year they
cost the District $60,500. We reasoned
that by purchasing corn cob granules
and B .t.i . powder, we could make our
own product much che aper. After all,
the powder is essentially what comes
out of the fermenting vats, it is much
lighter and more compact than other
formulations and it probably receives
the least amount of handling . With
savings in processing, packaging and
shipping, B .t.i. powder should cost
less, right. Wrong!
It makes no sense to buy B.t.i . powder at current prices, which , relative to
the price of other formulations, are
about 3-4 times what they should be
(see Table 3). The cheapest AI can be
found in B.t.i.liquids , at about half the
cost of the AI in powders. The B.t.i.
manufacturers and their reps will claim
"economies of scale " are the cause for
this disparity-! wonder. You can buy
blank corn cob granules and combine
them with B .t .i. liquid to produce your
own AI-equivalent granules at about
half the cost ($0.63 -0. 75/lb), excluding
labor and depending on the quantities
purchased, of commercially available
products. If you're like us, you don ' t
have to worry about sealers and packaging, because it is a short trip in time
and distance from the cement mixer to
the plastic buckets to the truck or aircraft.
One manufacturer's representative, seeing the argument from the business side, has already indicated that
B.t.i.liquid is very underpriced and the
price should be raised accordingly. It 's
all relative to one's position , isn't it?
20
WINTER 1995, WING BEATS
LECO® .Air -··
Scrul~ber -proto.type
· -K imr V(alchei·
.
..-:
This is a picture of an early prototype of the LECO® Air Scrubber System which used nozzles modified from
the LECO 500-800 ULV Nozzle system.
We have labeled this, jokingly, " The
LECO City-Wide Mosquito Control
Scheme."
The system is designed to mix ultra-fine particles of reagent with the
gaseous mixture escaping from a smoke
stack or vent to increase the surface
area of the reagent chemical in the gaschemical mixture to speed the reaction
of the reagent to remove selected
chemical gases, such as S0 2 and H 2S,
from the stream of gases being released
into the environment from industrial
and municipal sources.
The air scrubber is a complete cap
on the stack or vent. The nozzle-look-
ing devices right above each nozzle are
pressure relief valves to prevent the
system from developing dangerous
over-pressure in the event of some
mishap with the normal release of
gases.
The current system uses a nozzle
system that looks very similar to the
thermal aerosol end or Fog Nozzle section. The above systems are currently
patent pending and in test at Lowndes
Engineering Co., in Valdosta, Georgia.
They are showing very substantial reductions in the selected chemical gases
in industrial air streams.
''Call Clarke.
They have
all the
answers.''l.iL.~~~
Whether you have
questions about product
usage, formulation or application,
we're here for you. A major investment in
our new formulating facility proves we will
continue to be here for you in the years to
come.
And chances are, the qualified staff
you worked with a decade ago is the same
staff you're working with today.
Stability. Professionalism. Superior
products. Call us today. We're here to help.
1-800-323-5727.
''Air'' Eddie
Ed Meehcm
Sometime back I wrote an article
for Wing Beats that demonstrated that
incorrect tire pressure could have an
adverse effect on application rates. As
always, a few "doubting Thomases"
existed, but on the whole, most who
read it commented that it was interesting but didn't seem to think it was really that important. Let me offer a few
more comments on speed vs. application rates.
If you are not using a speed compensating device such as the ELF or
similar units , all other things being
equal, application speed is probably
the most important factor for the operator to maintain. As an example, if an
application is calibrated for lO mph and
the rig slows just 1 mph , the application rate increases by 10%. Not only
does the cost per road mile increase
by 10%, but the effect of the formulation is extended due to the half-life of
the material. Even more important, the
spectrum of control can become less
selective due to the increased application. On the other hand , if the driver
speeds up to 12 mph the application
Application Rate Error
Caused by Vehicle Speed Variance
'.f, Error
rate decreases by 20%, creating an unintentional underdose, which can lower
efficacy or, perhaps, even stimulate the
onset of resistance.
In the accompanying c hart , you
can quickly calculate an error by first
finding your Desired Vehicle Speed on
the x-axis or the bottom line and then
drawing a line straight up until you hit
the speed variance curve you chose.
Draw a line straight from this point to
the left to find your % error in application rate.
Since driving an accurate and consistent speed is
very difficult to
do , yo u might
want to give serious consideration to using
one of the electronic linear flo w
control systems
available today.
With the cost of
calculators and
these systems
coming down
very rapidly, it
might be a very
good investment.
in
Ed Meehan op·
erates out of 1220
7th Avenue, P.O.
Box 218, Howard
Lake, MN 55349.
Drop him a line or
comment on his
column or a ques·
lion you want an ·
swered.
Application
Rate
0.2MPH
Speed Variance
3
6
9
12
Desired Vehicle Speed (MPH}
22
WINTER 1995, WING BEATS
15
18
Under Surveillance
Seven Ways to a Successful
Dipping Career
Claudia 0' Malley
INTRODUCTION
As recently as 1922, members of the
New Jersey mosquito control community
were debating the relative merits of "night
collections" as opposed to larval collection and identification. Some of the past
practices of mosquito control included
treating any standing water encountered,
regardless of whether or not mosquito
larvae were present. Guidelines for starting a mosquito control program included
the advice that directors should not
spend an excessive amount of time on
surveys. Even now, a few still feel that
larval surveys are only necessary in the
early part of the breeding season; once it
is known what species are present at a
site, it can be t~en for granted that the
species composition at that site will remain the same throughout the rest of the
season. Most experts, however, feel that
larval surveillance is not only an important aspect of an effective mosquito surveillance and control program, but it is
an essential component.
BENEFITS OF LARVAL
SURVEILLANCE
Larval surveys have many important
functions. They are used to determine
the locations and seasons that mosquitoes use specific aquatic habitats and,
when specimens are identified and
counted, the information can be used to
determine species composition and population densities. The information can be
used to determine optimal times for application of larval control measures , including chemicals, biologicals, draining
or impounding. It can also be used to
help forecast the need for adult mosquito
control and to help assess the effectiveness of both chemical and biological con trol measures.
Routine larval surveillance data can
be useful in interpreting adult mosquito
surveillance data. For example, if larval
surveys indicate 95-100 % control by larvicides and yet the number of adults
does not decline, one can suspect, in the
absense of reinfestation, that an important larval concentration was missed. A
system for the detection of insecticide
resistance is also provided through alarval surveillance program.
SAMPLING LARVAL MOSQUITOES
Because mosquito larvae are found
in a wide variety of habitats, a number of
different sampling techniques to determine their presence and density have
bee n developed. Many, if not all, of the
published methods are described in Mike
Service's book, Mosquito Ecology Field
Sampling Methods (Elsevier Applied
Science, 1993) .. Some methods are complex mechanical devices, but the most
commonly used larval collection method
is the "standard dipper," that plastic or
metal, white or aluminum, solid or screenbottomed pint to quart-sized scoop-ona-handle, that, along with the "sweep
net," defines the Ultimate Inspector. Let's
take a closer look at dipping.
Dipping for mosquito larvae may, at
first, seem like a very simple thing to do .
After all, who hasn ' t dipped water from a
bucket or stream to quench a thirst or
cool the top of one's head? Well, think
again. Dipping for mosquito larvae is not
dipping to take a drink. The technique
starts long before the dipper is put into
the water. It begins hours or days before
the actual dipping and at least 10 feet
away from the water's edge.
The species of mosquitoes one is
looking for and the type of habitat being
sampled will, in part, determine the sampling method used. Thus, it is important
that field personnel know the preferred
breeding habitats and seasonal occur-
renee of species known or suspected to
be present within an area.
When searching for mosquito larvae,
proceed slowly and carefully. Approach
the area with caution, not to avoid
snakes, although that's a good idea too,
but to avoid disturbing larvae at the
water 's surface. Vibrations from heavy
footsteps, casting a shadow or moving
vegetation that contacts the water may
be enough to cause larvae to dive to the
bottom. Try to approach the water while
facing the sun and with quiet, slow, soft
steps, gently move vegetation only as
necessary.
Mosquito larvae of most genera, particularly the common Culex, Aedes and
Anopheles, are usually found at the
water's surface and frequently next to
vegetation or surface debris. In larger
pools and ponds, they are usually near
the margins, not in open, deep water. Dipping should be concentrated around
floating debris and aquatic and emergent
vegetation. If there is a strong wind, dipping should be done on the windward
side of the habitat where larvae and pupae will be most heavily concentrated.
Look for larvae and pupae before beginning to dip, if possible. If it is raining on
the water 's surface, get back in the truck,
go have a cup of coffee and wait until the
rain stops.
Each water body may contain anumber of different microhabitats which
could contain different mosquito species.
Microhabitats are such places as under
tree roots, within clumps of emergent
vegetation, under floating or overhanging vegetation and in open water. Learn
to recognize different microhabitats
within an area and sample as many as
possible in order to obtain an accurate
picture of the area's species composition.
A CHOICE OF SEVEN
Now that you've found your way
safely to the edge of a marsh, pond,
ditch , swamp or woodland pool, what do
you do with your dipper. Just plunge it
in? That's fine if you need water, but not
necessarily if you want to catch mosquitoes. Believe it or not, there are seven
basic ways to dip for mosquito larvae.
Which one or ones you use depend, as
we mentioned earlier, on the genus or
genera of mosquitoes you suspect may
WINTER 1995, WING BEATS
23
be present and on the habitat, microhabitat and weather conditions.
The first and usually the best method
to start with is the SHALLOW SKIM. The
shallow skim consists of submerging the
leading edge of the dipper, tipped about
45 degrees, about an inch below the surface of the water and quickly, but gently,
moving the dipper along a straight line in
open water or in water with small floating
debris. End the stroke just before the dipper is filled to prevent overflowing. The
shallow skim is particularly effective for
Anopheles larvae that tend to remain at
the surface longer than Aedes and Culex.
Anopheles are usually associated with
floating vegetation and debris.
The second method to try in open
water, with or without floating objects, is
the COMPLETE SUBl\1ERSION. Many
mosquito larvae, particularly those of the
genera Aedes and Psorophora, are very
active and usually dive below the surface
quickly if disturbed. In this case, a quick
plunge of the dipper below the surface of
the water is required, bringing the dipper
back up through the diving larvae. Bring
the dipper up carefully to avoid losing the
larvae in the overflow current.
When you need to sample at the
edges of emergent vegetation, try the
PARTIAL SUBl\1ERSION technique. To
do this, push the dipper, tilted at about
45 degrees, straight down adjacent to the
vegetation. This causes the water around
the vegetation to flow into the dipper,
carrying the larvae with the flow. There
is no need to move the dipper horizontally. Pull the dipper up before it is full.
24
WINTER 1995, WING BEATS
ten the method referred to in much of the
literature as "the standard dipping procedure." While it can be successfully
used to collect Culex larvae, it is still not
the method of choice.
In very shallow water, try the FLOWIN method. Larvae can be collected by
pushing the dipper into the substrate of
the pool and letting the shallow surface
water, debris and larvae flow into the dipper. Do not move the dipper horizontally.
To sample for larvae that may be under floating or emergent vegetation, use
the SCRAPING technique. This method
is used in habitats that contain clumps
of vegetation such as tussocks of sedges,
floating mats of cattails or water lettuce
or other plants that are too large to get in
the dipper, or clumps of submerged vegetation such as hydrilla or bladderwort.
Dip from the water in towards the vegetation and end by using the dipper to
scrape up against the base or underside
of the vegetation to dislodge larvae. This
method is usually more effective if the
bottom of the dipper is screened and it is
often used to sample for Coquillettidia
and Mansonia mosquitoes.
The SIMPLE SCOOP is the "dipping
to get water" method that was discouraged earlier. It consists of simply scooping a dipperful of water. This is probably
the most commonly used method, particularly by new inspectors, and it is of-
The dipper can also be used as
BACKGROUND. This is especially useful in woodland pools and other shallow
water or when larvae are disturbed and
dive to the bottom. Submerge the dipper
completely to the bottom litter and slowly
move it around. The darker mosquito larvae and pupae will stand out against the
background of a white or aluminum dipper. Once larvae appear in the dipper, just
lift it upward.
One or more of these methods, properly used, can determine the mosquito
species composition of most aquatic
habitats, excluding those whose openings are smaller than the dipper, such as
tires, rock pools, treeholes and tree root
systems like those found in cedar and
red maple swamps. In those cases, a
smaller container, such as a vial, measuring spoon or tea strainer can be used in
the same seven ways as the dipper described above. Then there is the tubular
dipper, the chef's poultry baster, for those
really hard to get to places like plant axils, tree holes and tree root holes.
Now that we know how to efficiently
collect mosquito larvae, what do we do
with the specimens and the data. That's
the subject of a future artick Until then,
happy dipping.
Hits.
Misses.
Stop the bad guys. Save the good guys. That's your job, right? And if you don't succeed, no one wins. Not your .
community. Not the environment. Definitely not you. With Altosid®products, everyone wins. That's because
Altosid hits mosquitoes hard without harming non-target species. By working specifically on fourth instar mosquito
larvae, Altosid offers consistent, highly effective control without disrupting the food chain. Choose from a wide
variety of formulations with up to 150 days of larvicidal control. Just think how cost-effective it will be to spend
less on labor, equipment and adulticides.
For complete details,
calll-800-248-7763 today.
~
SANDOZ
~Ait:asid®
The smart way to fight mosquitoes.
Always read the label before using the prod uct. Sa nd oz Agro, lnc., 1300 E. Touhy Ave., Des Plaines, ll 60018. Altosid is a trademark o f Sand oz Ltd . ©1995 Sandoz Agro, Inc.
As the days grow yet longer,
And the morning comes so fast.
You swear you ' II drop ...
...That you ' II never last.
•-Letters
'.>:.
· -
.
- ..
~
· .. · . · · .
:
·.~;
.
.•. ·. . . . ~. -~· ·
:;·
.. .
Dear Charlie:
In the section titled " Possible Improvements" from the article " B .t.i . Revisited" by Dr. Emile Van Handel, Doug
Wassmer and Doug Carlson in Wing
Beats Spring 1995 issue, an obsolete
product, Paris Green, is discussed. I quote
from the article, "Once applied to the surface of the water, it would settle through
the water column where larvae were feeding. After a while on the bottom, the
marble dust would slough off and the
Paris Green/vermiculite would pop back
to the surface where it would spread out
and again slowly settle through the water column. A B . t.i . formulation that will
do a similar job would be a valuable Mosquito control to_ol." The article goes on
from there to talk about encapsulation
and other methods of attaining this type
of formulation withB .t.i .
Back in the 1970's, our company
spent a great deal of time to create a floating, sustained-re lease formulation containing B.t.i. along with only natural inert ingredients. As a Bacteriologist, I was
aware thatB .t.i . spores and crystals were
heavier than water and any formulation
with B.t.i . had to slowly release it at the
surface so that it could travel through
the water column in which the mosquito
larvae feed. We were extremely sucessful
in formulating a product, "Summit
Bactimos Briquets" (also called "Mosquito Dunks") which, to use a phrase
from the article again , has become "a valuable mosquito control tool" . This tool is
a 30-day sustained-release product which
has been successfully used in containertype sites throughout the world since the
early 1980's. Why do so many involved
in mosquito control continually ignore
and try to reinvent Summit BACTIMOS
BRIQUETS?
Lawrence E . K.ase
Baltimore, Maryland
26
WINTER 1995, WING BEATS
Pest Asides
Peter H. Connelly
As the Days grow longer
And the temperature s wt~Jm,
We are again reminded, of
that familiar swarm.
Our rigs are all painted
Our sprayers all repaired.
Every thing 's ready,
Even the spare.
There will be tire holes, and tire dumps
Yes we' ll have them all.
We'll have larvae and pupae
Oh, what a ball!
We ' ll have birdbaths and containers,
As far as the eye can see.
We'll have aedes and culex ...
We'll even have anopheles.
There will be no shortage of hours,
In our daily plight.
As we get a little more rain ...
And another flight.
We'll throw everything at 'em,
As much as we can muster.
Until the money is gone ,
And the budget is busted.
Then there's the complaints,
By thousands you know
"You never sprayed my neighborhood"
"What do you mean, how do I know?"
If the buzz in your ear
From the bugs ain't enough,
Round come the vendors
With some more of that stuff!
On into the summer
As the heat begins
to rise.
A few rigs break
Adding additional
surprise.
Then a good staffer leaves,
Saying they've had enough.
Again round come the vendors
With more good stuff.
Towards the end of the summer,
Just before the fall
You 're exhausted ... worn out,
Moving at a crawl.
That 's when the boss
Drops in one day.
And doubles the area
That you have to spray.
With your bible and your baling wire
You tackle the' task.
And sometime in the fall
You realize you 'lllast.
Then the days begin to cool
And shorten quite a lot.
And you slow from a sprint ...
To a gallop ... to a trot.
You've a lot to be proud of
In the job that you do.
Protecting public health,
Improving life too.
So slow down, enjoy the holidays,
And never never fear.
You'll be twice as busy,
In the coming year.
You Can't Miss with FYFANON®ULV
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world's leading mosquito adulticide because it works
better than the competition. Recent field tests
conducted in Maryland, Florida and New Jersey
(just to name a few) confirm what mosquito control
professionals have always
known - when you need
~-~;iiiiii__..,. to control adult mosquito
~~populations, malathion is
still the product of choice.
_:
And today's FYFANON malathion is better
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than resmethrin, permethrin, fenthion or naled.
When you have mosquitoes on the
wing, choose a proven performer.
Choose FYFANON® ULV Insecticide,
now also available in 5 gallon pails and
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@ CHEMINOVA
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BACTIMOS~
chosen by mosquito control professionals around the
world, is a cost-effective tool for your mosquito control program. It·
is part of an integrated pest management program, and can be used
on environmentally sensitive breeding sites including freshwater
marshes, swamps, bogs and tide mars?es.
BACTIMOS®formulations have. been designed and produced to
specifications which optimize safe handling, application efficiency
and product efficacy.
BACTIMOS~
Abbott Laboratories
Chemica,! and Agricultural
Products Division
the biological larvicide product of choice by
today's Mosquito Control Professionals.
Customer Service
1-800-323-9597
AMERICAN MOSQUITO CONTROL
c/o Outdoor Tech ., Inc.
1499 Morning Dove Rd .
Tallahassee, FL 32312
-":!
!
~
Non-Profit Org .
U.S. Postage
PAID
Tallahassee, FL
Permit No. 407