Testing the use of a citronella-based repellent as an effective method to reduce the prevalence and abundance of biting flies in avian nests

Puente, Josué Martínez‐de la; Merino, Santiago; Lobato, Elisa; Aguilar, Juan Rivero de; Cerro, Sara del; Ruiz-de-Castañeda, Rafael

doi:10.1007/s00436-009-1353-9

Cited by 12 publications

(4 citation statements)

References 33 publications

(39 reference statements)

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“…mosquitoes, biting midges and black flies) during incubation and brooding, with nestlings also suffering these attacks until fledging (Tomás et al 2008b;Ligon et al 2009;Martínez-de la Puente et al 2009a). These insects produce adverse effects on birds, including the transmission of blood parasites and tissue damage, affecting health status and survival probability (Smith et al 1998;Tomás et al 2008a;Martínez-de la Puente et al 2010).…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Do secretions from the uropygial gland of birds attract biting midges and black flies?

et al. 2011

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Bird susceptibility to attacks by blood-sucking flying insects could be influenced by urogypial gland secretions. To determine the effect of these secretions on biting midges and black flies, we set up a series of tests. First, we placed uropygial gland secretions from blue tit Cyanistes caeruleus broods inside empty nest boxes while empty nest boxes without gland secretions were treated as controls. Blue tit broods, from which we had obtained uropygial secretions, were affected by biting midges and black flies. However, these insects were absent in nest boxes both with and without secretions from nestlings' uropygial glands. We subsequently tested for the effects of uropygial gland secretions from feral pigeons Columba livia monitoring the number of biting midges captured using miniature CDC traps. There was no significant difference in the number of biting midges captured. Overall, our results did not support a potential role of avian uropygial gland secretions in attracting biting midges and black flies.

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Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Do secretions from the uropygial gland of birds attract biting midges and black flies?

et al. 2011

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“…The apparent repellence of citronella for various species of mosquitoes and other pest insects has been documented since 1901 (Granett 1940). Even with some encouraging results having been published (Martínez-de la Puente et al 2009;Tawatsin et al 2006), citronella is generally rated as less effective than repellents with synthetic active ingredients (Kongkaew et al 2011). Despite this, it has long been used in a number of commercial preparations (Curtis et al 1987).…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…However, other studies have shown that it will repel the Scottish species, Culicoides impunctatus Goetghebeur, from humans in the field (Trigg 1996) and the North American species, Culicoides variipennis Coquillett, from humans in the laboratory (Trigg & Hill 1996). In Spain, it was shown that citronella-based products will repel biting flies (Simulium and Culicoides species) from fumigated bird nests for up to three days (Martínez-de la Puente et al 2009). These findings highlight the fact that the genus Culicoides is biologically highly diverse and that extrapolation of data from one species to another is not recommended (Tabachnick 1992).…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Assessment of the repellent effect of citronella and lemon eucalyptus oil against South African <i>Culicoides</i> species

Venter¹,

Labuschagne²,

Boikanyo³

et al. 2014

J S Afr Vet Assoc

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The use of insect repellents to reduce the attack rate of Culicoides species (Diptera:Ceratopogonidae) should form part of an integrated control programme to combat African horse sickness and other diseases transmitted by these blood-feeding midges. In the present study the repellent effects of a commercially available mosquito repellent, a combination of citronella and lemon eucalyptus oils, on Culicoides midges was determined. The number of midges collected with two 220 V Onderstepoort traps fitted with 8 W 23 cm white light tubes and baited with peel-stick patches, each containing 40 mg of active ingredient, was compared with that of two unbaited traps. Two trials were conducted and in each trial the four traps were rotated in two replicates of a 4 x 4 randomised Latin square design. Although more midges were collected in the baited traps, the mean number in the baited and unbaited traps was not significantly different. This mosquito repellent did not influence either the species composition or the physiological groups of Culicoides imicola Kieffer. The higher mean numbers in the baited traps, although not statistically significant, may indicate that this mosquito repellent might even attract Culicoides midges under certain conditions.

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“…The same procedure was used in control nests. This repellent reduces the number of blood-sucking flying insects in nests without apparent negative effects on nestlings (Martínez-de la Puente et al 2009 a ).…”

Section: Methodsmentioning

confidence: 99%

Vector abundance determinesTrypanosomaprevalence in nestling blue tits

et al. 2013

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The effect of insect vectors on avian exposure to infection by pathogens remains poorly studied. Here, we used an insect repellent treatment to reduce the number of blood-sucking flying insects in blue tit Cyanistes caeruleus nests and examined its effect on nestling health status measured as body mass, nestling phytohaemagglutinin (PHA) response and blood parasite prevalence. We found that (i) the insect repellent treatment significantly reduced the number of blood-sucking flying insects in nests and (ii) the number of blood-sucking flying insects had a significant effect on the prevalence of the blood parasite Trypanosoma independently of the treatment. In addition, we found support for an adverse effect of parasite infections on nestling PHA response. Nestlings infected by Trypanosoma mounted a weaker response against PHA than non-parasitized ones. In addition, the number of blowflies in the nest was negatively associated with nestling PHA response. Overall, we found support for the hypothesis that blood-sucking flying insects attacking nestlings increase their exposure to parasite infections. Our results further substantiate the adverse effect of parasites on nestling condition.

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Testing the use of a citronella-based repellent as an effective method to reduce the prevalence and abundance of biting flies in avian nests

Cited by 12 publications

References 33 publications

Do secretions from the uropygial gland of birds attract biting midges and black flies?

Do secretions from the uropygial gland of birds attract biting midges and black flies?

Assessment of the repellent effect of citronella and lemon eucalyptus oil against South African <i>Culicoides</i> species

Vector abundance determinesTrypanosomaprevalence in nestling blue tits

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