Abstract
Scorpionism is a major public health problem in Brazil. Although there is no known effective method for controlling these animals, a common practice in urban areas of the country is the use of insecticides such as Fipronil. Thus, the objective of the present study was to evaluate the effectiveness of fipronil-based insecticides in the control of Tityus stigmurus scorpion species. We specifically investigated the relationship between insecticide treatment duration, scorpion body mass, and mortality rate. The scorpions were divided into groups (n = 30) and exposed to insecticide-treated surfaces at different time intervals after application. Groups of animals subjected to surfaces within 3 h after application of the insecticide showed symptoms of intoxication and higher mortality. The groups with individuals that had contact with treated areas 24 h after insecticide application did not show any adverse reactions during the observation period. Our results suggest that the insecticide Fipronil may be effective in controlling T. stigmurus if animals come in contact within 3 h of product application.
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Acknowledgements
We thank to Fundação de Amparo a Ciência e Tecnologia de Pernambuco (FACEPE) for funding this research. We also thank to anonymous referee for their valuable comments on the previous version of our manuscript.
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This study was funded by Fundação de Amparo a Ciência e Tecnologia de Pernambuco (FACEPE) (BFP-0121-2.05/20) to AFAL.
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CMR and RMA contributed to the study conception and design. Material preparation, data collection and analysis were performed by all authors. All authors contributed equally to manuscript preparation and approved their final version.
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Brito-Almeida, T.R., de Andrade, R.M., dos Santos, A.B. et al. Effect of insecticide treatment time on mortality of the buthid scorpion Tityus stigmurus. Int J Trop Insect Sci 42, 2645–2649 (2022). https://doi.org/10.1007/s42690-022-00792-9
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s42690-022-00792-9