Beef Cattle Fly Control with Methoprene Bolus and Diflubenzuron (Vigilante Tm) Bolus Followed by Atro- 3An Tagging, 1987

Abstract

Abstract Two herds of cows/calves were treated with 50g Vigilante boluses containing 4.9g AI diflubenzuron on 3 Mar to determine the efficacy igainst the horn fly and face fly. Only the cows were treated at the rate of 1 bolus/250kg of body weight and 1/2 bolus for less than 250kg of body weight. Ten wk later these cattle were treated with Atroban eartags. One herd received 1 tag/cow and the other received 2 tags/cow. Prior to tagging, 5 fresh manure samples from each herd were bioassayed with newly emerged laboratory face flies to determine if the Vigilante treatment was still effective against the face ily. An untreated cow/calf herd in the same general area served as controls. In a separate investigation, 2 different formulations of 1.5% S-methoprene (F- 257-67-3 and F-257-64-3) were investigated for their efficacy against horn flies. A Vigilante bolus treatment was used for a comparison test, as was a separate ontrol herd. All 4 herds were cow/calf operations and all within 2 miles radius of each other. Treatment was on 12 May. Horn fly estimates were made at 2 wk intervals on one side of each of 10 animals in each test. Face fly counts were made on the same animal. No fly counts were made on the early Vigilante lest until 4 wk posttreatment as no flies were present.