Development, growth, and survival of Culex quinquefasciatus Say and Aedes aegypti (L.) were determined at six constant temperatures (15, 20, 25, 27, 30, 34 degrees C). The Sharpe & DeMichele four-parameter model with high-temperature inhibition described the temperature-dependent median developmental rates of both mosquito species. In both species, body size generally decreased as temperature increased. Head capsule widths in all instars in both species were significantly greater at 15 than at 30-34 degrees C. Except for the third instar of Ae. aegypti, the larval body lengths in both species were significantly greater at 15 than at 34 degrees C. All instars and pupae of both species and the adults in Cx. quinquefasciatus were significantly heavier at 15 than at 27-34 degrees C. In Cx. quinquefasciatus, survival from eclosion to adult emergence was highest in the range from 20 to 30 degrees C (85-90%) and dropped drastically at 15 (38%) and 34 degrees C (42%). In Ae. aegypti, survival to adult stage was high at 20 (92%) and 27 degrees C (90%) and lowest at 15 degrees C (3%).

The worldwide spread of modern, high-density confined poultry production systems under the direction of integrators has intensified the importance of a select number of arthropod ectoparasites and habitat pests. This concentrated production of poultry provides artificial ecosystems that are sometimes ideal for the development of large populations of arthropod pests. At the same time the systems are amenable to integrated pest management involving a multipest and multimethod approach to reducing or eliminating arthropod pests. Since rodents are major pests, they should be included in an integrated pest management program to make the program most cost-effective and attractive to the integrators and producers (5). Quantitative data are scarce on economic effects, and the concept of economic thresholds is difficult to apply either to ectoparasites or to habitat pests. The risk of transporting ectoparasites among flocks is difficult to evaluate and necessitates treatment after early detection of the arthropods. Flies and litter beetles present a threat of disease transmission and the potential for lawsuits from neighbors or public health agencies that are factors not subject to easy cost estimates. The monetary losses of a flock devastated by disease or a farm forced to close are so great that the risks are unacceptable. Production losses from lowered feed conversion ratios and insulation damage are likely to be detected by the sophisticated record-keeping of the integrators. Minimal use of pesticides and other chemicals on poultry and in poultry housing is an objective of the integrators and, consequently, an integrated pest management (IPM) approach that reduces the need for pesticides is attractive. The key to further development of effective arthropod management programs for poultry is the implementation of pest and disease monitoring programs for the complete system. Improvements in arthropod sampling methods and more attention to monitoring the biosecurity systems to minimize ectoparasite dispersal are needed. The integrators have servicemen who regularly visit the production facilities and can be trained to perform monitoring functions and to instigate and supervise integrated pest management measures. With the increasing use of computers by the integrators, the prospects for utilizing the monitoring data in predictive computer simulation models for pest management decision-making justify more efforts to develop such tools (64, 102, 168). Future poultry pest management programs must be based on sound data, which presently is too limited, and must be flexible enough to adjust rapidly to evolving pest problems in rapidly changing production systems.

Oviposition by four species of muscid flies on poultry manure having six levels of moisture in the range of 40–90% was compared using caged populations of adults. Musca domestica L., Muscina stabulans (Fallén), Fannia femoralis (Stein) and Ophyra aenescens (Wiedemann) deposited more than 50% of their eggs in manure having 70% moisture. Eggs from those fly species and two others, Fannia canicularis (L.) and a stratiomyid, Hermetia illucens (L.), were added to poultry manure having eight levels of moisture in the range of 20–90%, and the development and size of emerging adults determined. None of the species developed in manure with 80 and 90% moisture. Development was mostly in the manure with 40–70% moisture, although some development in drier manure occurred with F. canicularis and H. illucens. For some species there were differences in the survival of fly immatures, development time, and size of the adult flies reared in manure of different moisture levels.

A survey of contamination with Salmonella was done in the breeder/multiplier and broiler houses, feed mills, hatcheries, and processing plants of two integrated broiler firms. Samples of insects and mice were also collected at each location. Sixty percent (60%) of the meat and bone meal samples collected at feed mills were contaminated. Salmonella was isolated from 35% of the mash feed samples tested. The pelleting process reduced Salmonella isolation rates by 82.0%. Data collected from breeder/multiplier houses suggested that feed was the ultimate source of Salmonella contamination in that environment. Salmonella was found in 9.4% of the yolk sac samples collected from day-old chicks in hatcheries. Fecal dropping samples collected in broiler houses about one week prior to slaughter were contaminated at a rate of 5.2%. Salmonella was found in 33% of the samples collected from live haul trucks and 21.4% of the whole processed broiler carcasses sampled at processing plants. Salmonella typhimurium was the serotype most commonly isolated. The gastrointestinal tract of one of 19 mice sampled was contaminated with Salmonella. Data suggest that insects were primarily mechanical carriers. Results suggest Salmonella contamination in the U.S. broiler production and processing system has changed little since 1969. The data also underline the contention that effective Salmonella control efforts must be comprehensive.

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