An eco-friendly approach to control brown dog tick, Rhipicephalus sanguineus using sustained release assembly pheromone beads

The response of unfed stages of brown dog tick, Rhipicephalus sanguineus to sustained-release assembly pheromone test beads was studied by in-vitro and field trials. The test beads were prepared with synthetic analogues of assembly pheromone in conjunction with an acaricide. In-vitro trials with test beads resulted in mortality of 100% of the exposed unfed larvae and adults, and 90% of unfed nymphal stages 24 hours post-exposure. Field trials were conducted with specially designed lures incorporated with beads. The lures was placed in kennels and were found to attract and kill the preparasitic environmental stages of R. sanguineus. This is a novel attempt to encapsulate assembly pheromone using biodegradable and environmentally safe calcium alginate.