The biology and the control of [formula omitted], the tropical warble-fly of Latin America

Abstract

Dermatobia hominis (Linnaeus, Jr., 1781), the tropical warble-fly, is one of the most important parasites of cattle in Latin America. In addition to cattle, D. hominis infests sheep, pigs, dogs and other mammals including man. D. hominis occurs from Southern Mexico to Northern Argentina. It is estimated that, worldwide, an annual loss of US $200,000,000 in milk, meat and hides is produced by D. hominis Over the centuries the farmers of Latin America have attempted to control the larvae of D. hominis through a variety of methods — manual extraction to the application of chemicals by means of several routes of administration. During the forties and fifties, chlorinated hydrocarbon insecticides, applied as dips or sprays, were used with variable results to control D. hominis . In the sixties and seventies, a number of organophosphorus compounds (ronnel, trichlorphon, ruelene, coumaphos, etc.) were applied using different routes of administration (orally, subcutaneously, intramuscularly, as a spray, or as a “spot-on”). Recently, the results of numerous trials conducted in Paraguay, Brazil and Colombia have shown that ivermectin, a compound characterized by a broad-spectrum of activity against both endo- and ectoparasites of cattle, is fully effective against the three larval stages of D. hominis of cattle.