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Resistance to Dieldrin of Cimex hemipterus (Fabricius)

Abstract

THE first report of resistance to dieldrin by the tropical bed-bug, Cimex hemipterus, in East Africa was that by Smith1. In observations made during the course of the Pare-Taveta Malaria Control Scheme, it was reported2 that the bed-bug population was reduced to very low numbers following the first dieldrin spray (first treatment of 80 mgm. dieldrin/sq. ft. followed by subsequent treatments of 40mgm./sq.ft. at eight-month intervals), but 14–19 months after this treatment the bed-bugs were present in sufficient numbers to be considered of nuisance value. In a series of laboratory tests it was shown that whereas bed-bugs from an untreated area were all dead after a seven-day exposure to 0.1 per cent dieldrin using a method suggested by Busvine3, there was only an 18 per cent mortality for a similar exposure time among bed-bugs from the treated area.

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References

  1. Smith, A., Bull. World Health Org., 19, 1124 (1958).

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  2. Pare-Taveta Malaria Control Scheme (East Africa High Commission, 1960).

  3. Busvine, J. R., and Nash, R., Bull. Ent. Res., 44, 371 (1953).

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  4. van Tiel, N. (in the press).

  5. Finney, D. J., Probit Analysis, second ed. (Cambridge University Press, 1952).

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  6. Hoskins, W. M., and Gordon, H. T., Ann. Rev. Ent., 1, 89 (1956).

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  7. Busvine, J. R., Bull. World Health Org., 19, 1041 (1958).

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ARMSTRONG, J., BRANSBY-WILLIAMS, W. & HUDDLESTON, J. Resistance to Dieldrin of Cimex hemipterus (Fabricius). Nature 193, 499–501 (1962). https://doi.org/10.1038/193499b0

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