Household ovicidal alternative for complementary control of Aedes aegypti in the Gran San Miguel de Tucuman agglomerate, Tucumán, Argentina.

Aedes aegypti is closely related to human behavior that allows its establishment through the accumulation of urban solid waste where it lays resistant eggs. Generally, adulticides and larvicides are applied in excess, without ovicidal alternatives, and some household products can help reduce the abundance of quiescent eggs in breeding sites by affecting the viability of eggs. A community involved in prevention and control is one of the most effective strategies for adequate vector management. In this investigation, new alternative strategies for the control of Ae. aegypti are assessed, valuing in laboratory the eggs' response to diverse household products. Susceptibility to different doses of bleach, oil, salt, sodium bicarbonate, vinegar, coffee, garlic, peroxide, and alcohol was measured, as well as its duration over time. New home products were found as alternative ovicidal method. Bleach and sunflower oil had an ovicidal effect at their maximum doses and at almost all of the evaluation times. In contrast, vinegar and coffee had no ovicidal effect at any time, turning out to be stimulators of hatching in the laboratory. These alternative and complementary applications could optimize the surveillance and control of Ae. aegypti in the area, allowing new approaches to reduce populations by eliminating eggs on human microhabitats.

Ectoparasitic insects (Diptera: Streblidae and Siphonaptera: Ischnopsyllidae) of bats from Iquitos and surrounding areas (Loreto, Peru)

Based on specimens collected from bats of different families, we add new species and extend the known ecological distribution and host associations of insect ectoparasites of bats in Peru. New information is provided for the distribution of 26 species of parasites (25 Diptera and 1 Siphonaptera: Ischnopsyllidae). Four species (Neotrichobius ectophyllae, Strebla galindoi, Strebla paramirabilis and Myodopsylla wolffsohni wolffsohni) are new for Peru and 16 represent new records for the department of Loreto. Also, we found 17 new host-ectoparasite relationships. Of note, we found remarkable new association between Neotrichobius delicatus and bat species from the families Molossidae and Noctilionidae and a novel association between Paradyschiria parvula and a species of Vespertilionidae. Host-ectoparasite specificity was recorded with 14 species as monoxenous, three oligoxenous, seven pleioxenous and two polyxenous.

Ectoparasitic insects (Diptera: Streblidae and Siphonaptera: Ischnopsyllidae) of bats from Iquitos and surrounding areas (Loreto, Peru).

Based on specimens collected from bats of different families, we add new species and extend the known ecological distribution and host associations of insect ectoparasites of bats in Peru. New information is provided for the distribution of 26 species of parasites (25 Diptera and 1 Siphonaptera: Ischnopsyllidae). Four species (Neotrichobius ectophyllae, Strebla galindoi, Strebla paramirabilis and Myodopsylla wolffsohni wolffsohni) are new for Peru and 16 represent new records for the department of Loreto. Also, we found 17 new host-ectoparasite relationships. Of note, we found remarkable new association between Neotrichobius delicatus and bat species from the families Molossidae and Noctilionidae and a novel association between Paradyschiria parvula and a species of Vespertilionidae. Host-ectoparasite specificity was recorded with 14 species as monoxenous, three oligoxenous, seven pleioxenous and two polyxenous.

Abundance patterns of Anopheles pseudopunctipennis and Anopheles argyritarsis in northwestern Argentina.

Anopheles pseudopunctipennis is an important malaria vector in Argentina but the role of Anopheles argyritarsis in the transmission of the parasite is still unknown. Abundance patterns of both species and their relationship to climatic variables were studied in the subtropical mountainous forest in northwestern Argentina. Adults were collected with CDC light traps from September 2002 to November 2005 in Salta (northern area) and Tucumán (southern area) provinces, from 3 localities in each province. The abundance of both species in localities was compared using the Kruskal-Wallis test, and their changes in abundance in relation to climatic variables were analyzed by Multilevel Poisson Regression. Anopheles argyritarsis was more abundant than A. pseudopunctipennis, and both reached a peak during the spring. There were significant differences in abundance in the northern localities for A. pseudopunctipennis, and between northern and southern localities for A. argyritarsis. Temperature, rainfall and relative humidity were significant predictors of the abundance of these two species.