A new house fly bait is coming onto the market. It is a unique chemistry with a new, slow-acting mode of action. Dr. Phillip Kaufman, Associate Professor at the UF Entomology & Nematology Department, is conducting a study to evaluate the performance of this bait on equine farms as part of a house fly management program. The study needs 8 farms: 4 “control” and 4 “treatment”. The farms will be allocated to control and treatment by random draw. The general requirements are:
- Facilities must house 2-4 horses that are stalled for some part of most days of the week.
- It is best if facilities maintain a typical manure pile consisting of stall contents. If such a pile exists, it should remain present for the duration of the study.
- Horses may be treated with fly repellents, but structural application and use of other fly insecticide baits are not permitted. Sticky tape use should be reduced and UF personnel consulted prior to use.
- Farms must be at least 0.5 mile apart. Ideally, farms would be located within about 60 miles of Gainesville.
The study will encompass at least 10 weeks, with 8 weeks of bait exposure (at the treatment farms) plus a 2-week pre-treatment counting period. UF personnel will visit farms weekly to check the bait presentation device and change it out with fresh bait. They will also assess the adult fly population using a standardized sampling protocol.
Volunteers interested in participating in this study should contact:
- Dr. Phillip Kaufman, pkaufman@ufl.edu, 352-273-3975 or Lois Wood, lawood@ufl.edu, 352-273-3981
