RESISTANCE TO DELTAMETHRIN IN PRAIRIE DOG ( CYNOMYS LUDOVICIANUS) FLEAS IN THE FIELD AND IN THE LABORATORY.

ABSTRACT: Sylvatic plague poses a substantial risk to black-tailed prairie dogs ( Cynomys ludovicianus) and their obligate predator, the black-footed ferret ( Mustela nigripes). The effects of plague on prairie dogs and ferrets are mitigated using a deltamethrin pulicide dust that reduces the spread of plague by killing fleas, the vector for the plague bacterium. In portions of Conata Basin, Buffalo Gap National Grassland, and Badlands National Park, South Dakota, US, 0.05% deltamethrin has been infused into prairie dog burrows on an annual basis since 2005. We aimed to determine if fleas ( Oropsylla hirsuta) in portions of the Conata Basin and Badlands National Park have evolved resistance to deltamethrin. We assessed flea prevalence, obtained by combing prairie dogs for fleas, as an indirect measu

SUBMITTER: Eads DA 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC6710209 | biostudies-literature | 2018 Oct

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature