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Insecticide resistance in stable flies (Stomoxys calcitrans) on dairy farms in Germany

  • Arthropods and Medical Entomology - Original Paper
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Abstract

Stable flies (Stomoxys calcitrans Linnaeus, 1758) can have a considerable negative impact on animal well-being, health, and productivity. Since insecticides constitute the mainstay for their control, this study aimed at assessing the occurrence of insecticide resistance in S. calcitrans on dairy farms in Brandenburg, Germany. First, the susceptibility of stable flies from 40 dairy farms to a deltamethrin-impregnated fabric was evaluated using the FlyBox® field test method. Then, S. calcitrans strains from 10 farms were reared in the laboratory, and the offspring was tested against the adulticides deltamethrin and azamethiphos and the larvicides cyromazine and pyriproxyfen. The FlyBox® method indicated 100% resistance in stable flies against deltamethrin. Later, to the offspring of those 10 established laboratory strains previously caught on suspected dairy farms, these field findings could be confirmed with mortalities well below 90% 24 h following topical application of the calculated LD95 of deltamethrin and azamethiphos. The ten strains could therefore be classified as resistant to the tested insecticides. In contrast, exposure to the insect growth regulators cyromazine and pyriproxyfen at their recommended concentrations demonstrated 100% efficacy. Both larvicides inhibited the moulting process of the stable fly larval stages completely, showing that the stable fly strains tested were susceptible to them. The intensive use of insecticides in recent decades has probably promoted the development of insecticide resistance. Systematic surveys in different livestock production systems and vigilance are therefore deemed necessary for estimating the risk of insecticide resistance development on a nationwide scale.

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Acknowledgments

The authors wish to gratefully thank Dr. Kai Sievert for providing a pyriproxyfen sample and MSD Animal Health Innovation GmbH for showing their stable fly breeding system and for providing Stomoxys calcitrans pupae. They also wish to express their gratitude towards the Federal Environment Office (UBA) for showing their breeding system and the topical application and for providing stable fly pupae; Prof. Dr. Uwe Rösler for supplying a test laboratory; and Dr. Jürgen Krücken, Dr. Roswitha Merle, and Peggy Hoffmann-Köhler for their support during this study.

Funding

S. Reissert benefitted from a grant of the Federal Office of Consumer Protection and Food Safety (BVL, Berlin, Germany) during her study.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Institute of Parasitology and Tropical Veterinary Medicine, Freie Universität Berlin, Robert-von-Ostertag-Str. 7-13, 14163, Berlin, Germany

    Sophia Reissert-Oppermann, Burkhard Bauer & Peter-Henning Clausen

  2. Federal Office of Consumer Protection and Food Safety, Berlin, Germany

    Stephan Steuber

Authors
  1. Sophia Reissert-Oppermann
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  2. Burkhard Bauer
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  3. Stephan Steuber
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  4. Peter-Henning Clausen
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Correspondence to Sophia Reissert-Oppermann.

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Section Editor: Helge Kampen

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This paper is an excerpt of the doctoral thesis with the title “Occurrence and distribution of insecticide resistance in stable flies (Stomoxys calcitrans) on dairy farms in the Federal State of Brandenburg, Germany” written by Sophia Reissert.

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Reissert-Oppermann, S., Bauer, B., Steuber, S. et al. Insecticide resistance in stable flies (Stomoxys calcitrans) on dairy farms in Germany. Parasitol Res 118, 2499–2507 (2019). https://doi.org/10.1007/s00436-019-06400-z

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s00436-019-06400-z

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