Hostname: page-component-78c5997874-94fs2 Total loading time: 0 Render date: 2024-11-08T00:07:10.041Z Has data issue: false hasContentIssue false
  • English
  • Français

A BHC-resistant Tick

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  10 July 2009

A. B .M. Whitnall ,
J. A. Thorburn ,
W. M. McHardy ,
G. B. Whitehead  and
F. Meerholz
Get access Rights & Permissions [Opens in a new window]

Extract

An arsenic-resistant tick was first noticed in the East London district of South Africa in 1938–39. It was a strain of the one host blue tick, B. decoloratus. BHC was very toxic to the tick, as 50 p.p.m. of the gamma isomer killed adult females in in vitro experiments. Field results in 1946–47 were equally convincing. Weekly dippings in BHC washes containing 50 p.p.m. gamma isomer brought the arsenicresistant tick under control.

In March 1948, BHC was found to be ineffective against blue ticks at “Burnside”, “Mistley” and “Gulu”, farms in the East London district. Later, ticks at “Tharfield” and “Elmhirst” in the Bathurst area survived regular weekly dippings in BHC preparations. In vitro experiments showed that adult female blue ticks taken from these localities could withstand high concentrations of gamma BHC, while females of the same species from other areas were readily killed. Not even 1,000 p.p.m. would give 100 per cent. control of ticks from resistant areas, and different sources of gamma BHC were equally ineffective. Laboratory experiments further indicated that the ticks were still arsenic-resistant. Indeed arsenic resistance appears to be associated with BHC resistance, as no BHC-resistant tick has been found that is not arsenic-resistant. The chlorinated cyclic hydrocarbons toxaphene and chlordane were ineffective against BHC-resistant ticks, but controlled BHC-sensitive ticks in the laboratory. DDT gave moderate in vitro results against both resistant and sensitive ticks.

Type
Original Articles
Information
Bulletin of Entomological Research , Volume 43 , Issue 1 , March 1952 , pp. 51 - 65
Copyright
Copyright © Cambridge University Press 1952

Access options

Get access to the full version of this content by using one of the access options below. (Log in options will check for institutional or personal access. Content may require purchase if you do not have access.)

References

Arnold, R. M. (1949). Tick control measures. Assessment of the value of chemical tickicides for Boophilus (Margaropus) annulatus var. microplus in Jamaica.—Vet. Rec., 61, pp. 198–201, 212–217.Google Scholar
Keiding, J. & Van Deurs, H. (1949). DDT-Resistance in houseflies in Denmark.—Nature, 163, pp. 964–965.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Kennedy, J. S. (1947). The excitant and repellent effects on mosquitos of sub-lethal contacts with DDT.—Bull. ent. Res., 37, pp. 593–607.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Lindquist, A. W. & Wilson, H. G. (1948). Development of a strain of houseflies resistant to DDT.—Science, 107, p. 276.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Omer-Cooper, J. & Whitnall, A. B. M.. (1945). An arsenic-resistant tick.—Nature, 156, pp. 450–451.Google Scholar
Thomson, R. C. Muirhead- (1949). DDT and “Gammexane” as residual insecti-cides against Anopheles gambiae in African houses.—Nature, 163, pp. 109–110.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Thorburn, J. A. (1947). The control of ectoparsite infestations of farm stock with “Gammexane”, with special reference to the arsenic-resistant blue tick. —Emp. J. exp. Agric., 15, pp. 42–50.Google Scholar
du Toit, R., Graf, H.. & Bekker, P. M. (1941). Resistance to arsenic as displayed by the single host Blue Tick Boophilus decoloratus (Koch) in a localised area of the Union of South Africa.—J.S. Afr. vet. med. Ass., 12, pp. 50–58.Google Scholar
Whitnall, A. B. M. & Bradford, B. (1947). An arsenic-resistant tick and its control with “Gammexane” dips.—Bull. ent. Res. 38, pp. 353–372.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Whitnall, A. B. M. & Bradford, B. (1949). An arsenic-resistant tick and its control with “Gammexane” dips. Part II.—Bull. ent. Res., 40, pp.207–226.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Whitnall, A. B. M., Bradford, B., Mchardy, W., Whitehead, G. B. & Meerholz, F. (1948). Some observations on biological and chemical tests to determine the effectiveness of benzene hexachloride dip-washes.—S. Afr. Sci., 2, pp. 112–113.Google Scholar
Whitnall, A. B. M., Mchardy, W., Whitehead, G. B. & Meerholz, F. (1951). Some observations on the control of the Bont Tick, Amblyomma hebraeum Koch.—Bull.ent. Res., 41, pp. 577–591.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Wilson, H. G. & Gathan, J. B. (1948). Susceptibility of DDT-resistant houseflies to other insecticidal sprays.—Science, 107, pp. 276–277.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed