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SUMMARYAs the currently only available molluscicide, niclosamide has been widely used for snail control for over 2 decades in China. There is therefore a concern about the emergence of niclosamide-resistant snail populations following repeated, extensive use of the chemical. The purpose of this study was to investigate the likelihood of niclosamide resistance in Oncomelania hupensis in China. Active adult O. hupensis snails derived from 20 counties of 10 schistosomiasis-endemic provinces of China, of 10 snails in each drug concentration, were immersed in solutions of 1, 0·5, 0·25, 0·125, 0·063, 0·032, 0·016 and 0·008 mg L−1 of a 50% wettable powder of niclosamide ethanolamine salt (WPN) for 24 and 48 h at 25 °C, and the median lethal concentration (LC50) was estimated. Then, the 24- and 48-h WPN LC50 values were compared with those determined in the same sampling sites in 2002. The results indicated that the 24- and 48-h WPN LC50 values for O. hupensis were not significantly different from those determined in 2002 (P = 0·202 and 0·796, respectively). It is concluded that the current sensitivity of O. hupensis to niclosamide has not changed after more than 2 decades of repeated, extensive application in the main endemic foci of China, and there is no evidence of resistance to niclosamide detected in O. hupensis.

Bispyribac-sodium selectively controls annual bluegrass in cool-season turf but efficacy may be influenced by management practices, such as plant growth regulator use. Experiments were conducted in New Jersey to investigate efficacy and absorption of bispyribac-sodium applied with trinexapac-ethyl for annual bluegrass control and turfgrass tolerance. In laboratory experiments with annual bluegrass, creeping bentgrass, and perennial ryegrass, tank-mixing trinexapac-ethyl with14C-bispyribac-sodium increased presumed foliar absorption of14C-bispyribac-sodium compared with nontrinexapac-ethyl treated; absorption increased with trinexapac-ethyl rate. Differences in14C-bispyribac-sodium absorption were not detected among emulsifiable concentration, microencapsulated concentration, and wettable powder trinexapac-ethyl formulations. In field experiments, sequential bispyribac-sodium applications controlled annual bluegrass 93%, but trinexapac-ethyl did not affect efficacy. Tank-mixing all trinexapac-ethyl formulations with bispyribac-sodium provided similar annual bluegrass control and creeping bentgrass quality compared with bispyribac-sodium alone. Applications of bispyribac-sodium reduced dollar spot cover in both years, whereas trinexapac-ethyl reduced dollar spot cover only in 2005.

Previous research has shown that flumioxazin has the potential to cause peanut injury. In response to this concern, laboratory and greenhouse experiments were conducted to investigate the influence of temperature on germination of flumioxazin-treated peanut seed and the effect of interval between flumioxazin application and irrigation on peanut emergence and injury. Laboratory experiments using 14C-flumioxazin were also conducted to investigate differential tolerance exhibited by peanut, ivyleaf morningglory, and sicklepod to flumioxazin. Flumioxazin treatments containing either water-dispersible granular or wettable powder formulation at 1.4 μmol L−1 did not influence germination compared with nontreated peanut across all temperature regimes (15 to 40 C). Peanut treated with either formulations of flumioxazin preemergence and receiving irrigation at emergence and 2 and 4 d after emergence were injured between 40 and 60%. Peanut treated at 8 and 12 d after emergence were injured between 25 and 15...

A 2-yr field study was conducted to determine effects of posttreatment irrigation timing on pendimethalin efficacy and dissipation in turfgrass. Factors investigated included herbicide rate, formulation, and the interval between pendimethalin application and the initial posttreatment irrigation. Plots received an initial posttreatment irrigation of 1.25 cm 0, 7, 14, 21, and 28 d after treatment. Pendimethalin efficacy on smooth crabgrass was evaluated, and turfgrass foliage and the upper 2.5-cm layer of soil were periodically assayed for pendimethalin residues. Pendimethalin 1.71% granular provided better weed control than pendimethalin 60% wettable powder at all rates, irrigation events, and years. Efficacy of granular pendimethalin was not affected by a delay in posttreatment irrigation, whereas efficacy of pendimethalin in the wettable powder formulation was reduced when irrigation was applied later than the day of treatment. Chromatographic analyses indicated that an average of 54% of the applied pendimethalin (wettable powder formulation) was retained on turfgrass foliage immediately after treatment, compared to 9% for the granular formulation. Soil residue analyses confirmed that a greater proportion of applied pendimethalin reached the soil surface immediately after treatment in the granular formulation than in the wettable power formulation.

An experimental plot sprayer, with a new mixing chamber and water measuring system, was developed to minimize operator exposure to pesticides during mixing and rinsing. Premeasured herbicide samples in 50-ml capped test tubes are emptied into the mixing chamber, and water is measured, rinses the test tube, and drains into the chamber to produce the spraying volume. This system eliminates operator contact with the chemicals and can be flushed quickly between plots to eliminate contamination. Rinsing efficiency with atrazine was greater for a suspension than a wettable powder formulation but less than 0.1% of the initial concentration was detected in water following the first or second rinsing. Nomenclature: Atrazine, 6-chloro-N-ethyl-N'-(l-methylethyl)-1 ,3,5-triazine-2,4-diamine. Additional index words: Residue, experimental plot sprayer, atrazine.

Larvae picked up wettable powder particles on legs, setae, and mouth parts. Phosmet was 5 times more toxic in small droplets than in large droplets to first instar codling moth, but small droplets required 2.5 times the number/cm2. With large droplets, a larger treated area was required to produce 50% mortality. For any percentage area covered small droplets gave higher mortality. Speed of toxic action was related to amount of phosmet/cm2 and to no. of droplets/cm2.

In laboratory studies, an aqueous suspension of a commercial wettable powder formulation of Bacillus thuringiensis var. kurstaki (strain HD-1) containing at least 25 billion viable spores/g and 16000 International Units of Potency (Trichoplusia ni (Hübner))/mg prevented infestations of Indian meal moths, Plodia interpunctella (Hübner), and almond moths, Cadra cautella (Walker), in corn and wheat at a dose of ca. 120 mg of formulation/kg of grain. Treatment of a 100-mm-deep surface layer was more effective than treatments 33 or 67 mm deep and as effective as treatment of the entire grain mass Lack of uniformity in applying B. thuringiensis to the grain kernels caused a small decrease in effectiveness. Dust and bait formulations at about the same doses were as effective as the suspension, but the bait was undesirable because it supported the development of beetle larvae. The formulation was less effective in controlling the Angoumois grain moth, Sitotroga cerealella (Olivier): doses that gave complete control of the Indian meal moth and the almond moth reduced emergence of adult Angoumois grain moths by only about one-third.

Different formulations of temephos were tested against Simulium venustum and S. vittatum larvae at water temperatures of 7 °to 20 °C under simulated stream conditions in the laboratory and the results indicated a significant positive correlation between water temperature and temephos efficacy. Temephos application of up to 5 mg/L/10 min had very little effect on Simulium larvae at 7 ° to 8 °C. Data from the tests indicated that both emulsifiable concentrate and wettable powder formulations have positive temperature coefficients. The WP formulation was 11 times and two EC formulations were 32 times more toxic at 20 °C than at 10 °C. The rate of larval detachment was faster at the higher temperatures but even at 20 °C detachment was not immediate as is common with larvae treated with methoxychlor. Detached larvae did not survive. On the basis of the present laboratory experiments on temperature–efficacy relationships, there are very strong indications that these formulations could be used effectively against black fly larvae only in streams that have water temperatures not less than 18 °to 20 °C.

The addition of simazine [2-chloro-4,6-bis(ethylamino)-s-triazine] wettable powder to water solutions of glyphosate [N-(phosphonomethyl)glycine] in greenhouse studies reduced glyphosate activity on quackgrass [Agropyron repens(L.) Beavu.], corn(Zea maysL.), and beans(Phaseolus vulgarisL.). Atrazine [2-chloro-4-(ethylamino)-6-isopropylamino)-s-triazine] wettable powder reduced glyphosate activity on corn. This antagonism was more pronounced at threshold levels of glyphosate and was overcome by increasing the glyphosate rate. Simazine applied to corn through the soil did not reduce the activity of glyphosate applied to the foliage. Glyphosate activity on corn was reduced equally when glyphosate was mixed with 4.2 kg/ha of commercial simazine wettable powder or an equal amount of the inert ingredients used in the commercial product. When mixtures of glyphosate with either the commercial simazine product or the inert ingredients from the commercial product were centrifuged, the amount of phosphorus (used as a measure of glyphosate) in the supernatant was reduced by 10 to 20%. When the supernatants of the various mixtures were applied to bean plants, the reduced phytotoxicity from the mixtures was comparable to the antagonism noted in previous experiments. These data support the conclusion that the reduction in glyphosate phytotoxicity from mixing with atrazine or simazine wettable powders is due to a physical binding within the spray solution rather than from biological interactions within the plant.

Females ofAnopheles darlingiRoot were the commonest (98·6%) of 5464 anophelines taken in 866 man-hours of human bait catches at night, in or near houses in the rain forest in Suriname during 1979–81, but their abundance could not be related to the prevalence of human malaria. In most endemic areas, few females were taken. At Aseli Kamp (4°17'N, 53°24'W) on the Lawa River, biting females were most abundant from April to June, during the long rainy season and rare or absent from September to March, during the long dry, short rainy and short dry seasons. At Apoma Tapoe, however, only 40 km downstream, they were most abundant in october and November, during the long dry season. Females entered houses to feed, with peak biting activity between 22·00 and 23·00 h, and were observed to rest near the collector for a mean of 7·7 min before and 17·1 min after feeding. No females were found resting by day, in buildings or out of doors. The mean parous rate of 827 females from biting catches was 43·6%. The expected biting rate of females was reduced by 20·3% in a house for six nights after it had been sprayed with DDT wettable powder (2 g/m2active ingredient), and by a mean of 82·6% during seven nights in a camp where the edge of the surrounding forest was sprayed with an ultra-low-volume mist of 95% fenitrothion (1·3 ml active ingredient per metre of perimeter) on the first, third and sixth days.A. darlingilarvae were found at Aseli Kamp in all seasons along the river's edge between water hyacinth plants (Eichhornia) and floating debris, and during the long rains in flooded forest.

Wettable powder and granular formulations of pronamide [3,5-dichloro(N-1,1-dimethyl-2-propynyl)benzamide], applied at 1.7 kg/ha to the soil surface or incorporated to depths of 1.3 to 7.5 cm, controlled dodder(Cuscuta indecoraChoisy and C.campestrisYunck.) completely in the greenhouse for periods of 6 to 16 weeks. Seedlings emerged in pronamide-treated soil, but did not elongate normally and did not twine. Pronamide had very little activity as a vapor. In the field, the same rate applied to the soil surface and sprinkler irrigated or mechanically incorporated with the soil usually controlled dodder for about 1 month longer than did the standard herbicide, chlorpropham (isopropylm-chlorocarbanilate) at 6.7 kg/ha. Pronamide at 6.7 kg/ha did not injure established alfalfa(Medicago sativaL.).

Studies were made of the susceptibility of wild-caught females of Glossina pallidipes Austen to deposits of DDT, dieldrin and deltamethrin on cotton canvas and Terylene netting. Aqueous suspensions of 3% dieldrin wettable powder, 3% dieldrin emulsifiable concentrate, 5·0% DDT wettable powder and 0·0625% deltamethrin flowable concentrate, were sprayed on the canvas at 0·36% litre/m2 Over 95% of the flies resting for 45 s on fresh deposits of these insecticides died within 72 h. Deposits of dieldrin, DDT and deltamethrin exposed to the sun during 140 days of the dry season produced mortalities of 100, 0 and 10% compared with 100, 75 and 100% for shaded deposits. The concentration of dieldrin and deltamethrin on exposed canvas was about 1% that on shaded canvas, but dieldrin produced photodieldrin upon exposure to the sun. Flies colliding with Terylene netting that had been immersed in 0·75–6·0% suspensions of dieldrin wettable powder and 0·01–0·1% suspensions of deltamethrin flowable concentrate produced mortalities of 100%. Deltamethrin deposits were resistant to weathering by rain, but dieldrin deposits were not. It is suggested that deltamethrin flowable concentrate should be used during the wet season and that dieldrin wettable powder should be used during the dry season. Dieldrin sprayed on an electrocuting target reduced the catch, but deltamethrin did not.

The distribution patterns of several herbicide formulations sprayed on adaxial leaf surfaces were determined using scanning electron microscopy coupled with cathodoluminescence and x-ray microanalysis. The sodium and amine salts of MCPA {[(4-chloro-o-tolyl) oxy] acetic acid} sprayed on sugar beet (Beta vulgarisL.) leaves appeared as discrete deposits above the anticlinal cell walls that represented the location of spray drops that adhered to the leaf. When the sodium salt was applied to bermudagrass [Cynodon dactylon(L.) Pers.], the pattern of distribution was the same; however, each deposit was significantly smaller. The iso-octyl ester of MCPA coalesced into numerous, small, thick deposits on the cuticle of sugar beet leaves. The distribution of a wettable powder formulation of atrazine [2-chloro-4-(ethylamino)-6-(isopropylamino-s-triazine] appeared as uniform deposits over the anticlinal and periclinal cell walls that represented the location of aqueous spray drops after application. When a flowable formulation of atrazine was applied, there was a significant preferential accumulation of the herbicide at the edges of the separate deposits. One commercial formulation of propanil (3′,4′-dichloropropionanilide) yielded deposits that were crystalline, one that was partially crystalline, and one that was noncrystalline.

BAS 9052 {2-[1-(ethoxyimino)-butyl]-5-[2-(ethylthio)propyl]-3-hydroxy-2-cyclohexen-1-one} effectively controlled annual grasses in soybean [Glycine max(L.) Merr.] alone or in combination with bentazon [3-isopropyl-1H-2,1,3-benzothiadiazin-4(3H)-one 2,2-dioxide] in greenhouse and field experiments. The activity of diclofop {2-[4-(2,4-dichlorophenoxy)phenoxy] propanoic acid} on annual grasses was reduced if combined with bentazon in a tank mixture. The wettable powder formulation of bentazon, as well as a day temperature of 30 C, slightly reduced the antagonistic interaction from that of the emulsifiable concentrate formulation of bentazon or a day temperature of 15 C. In greenhouse studies ‘Corsoy’ soybean plants were injured by the diclofop-bentazon combination. In field studies, however, the injury was not sufficient to reduce grain yields.

The control methods used to protect new-crop groundnuts stored in Kano against insect attack are described.The main method used was the spraying of aqueous suspensions of DDT directly on to the sacking of piles stored in the open and on the walls of warehouses before the nuts were stacked. The solutions were applied with a slow-moving orchard power sprayer, and 50 per cent, wettable powder applied at the rate of 360 mg./sq. ft. was found satisfactory. The BHC wettable powder applied at about 12 mg./sq. ft. was cheaper and equally as good and has now been found safe. Treatment markedly reduced the Tribolium population but had little effect on Trogoderma. Sprays of oil solutions were little used and were not very satisfactory.

Observations were made in Fiji on the ecology and control of two Delphacid planthoppers on rice, Sogatella furcifera (Horv.) and Nilaparvata lugens (Stål), the latter species having apparently been responsible for a devastating outbreak in 1959. The studies covered three rice seasons, 1961, 1962, and 1963, most of the research being done at Koronivia in the south-eastern part of Viti Levu. Samples were taken of planthoppers and their natural enemies in dryland (drilled) and wetland (transplanted) rice, as well as in rice seed-beds and areas with grass or mixed rice and grass. Insecticides applied at standard dosages were tested against the planthoppers.It was shown that S. furcifera was most common on young rice and that N. lugens predominated on older rice. Sogatella kolophon (Kirk.), long placed in the genus Sogata and confused with Sogatella furcifera, was abundant only in grassy areas. Populations of N. lugens and, to a lesser extent, of S. furcifera, were apt to reach damaging levels on transplanted rice growing in pools of standing water after a dry period. In drilled fields, the predatory Mirid Cyrtorhinus lividipennis vitiensis Usinger provided effective control by destroying eggs of N. lugens, and, by the time the rice was six months old, it usually outnumbered the females of N. lugens. Parasitism of planthopper eggs by Mymarids, Trichogrammatids, and Eulophids was very low. Parasitism of adults of S. furcifera and S. kolophon by Elenchid Strepsipterons averaged about ten per cent, and that by Dryinid wasps less than one per cent. Adults of N. lugens were virtually free from parasitism but were sometimes infected by fungi. Factors influencing outbreaks are discussed. These include the amount of rainfall, the type of cultivation, the age of the rice crop, the species composition of the planthopper populations, and the relative abundance of Cyrtorhinus.Insecticidal concentrates tested against both S. furcifera and N. lugens included malathion 50 per cent, emulsifiable concentrate, diazinon 20 per cent, e.c., Bogor 30 per cent, e.c., DDT 20 per cent, e.c., dieldrin 15 per cent, e.c., and Sevin 80 per cent, wettable powder. Dieldrin-resistant strains of N. lugens appeared during 1961, the third season in which dieldrin and BHC had been widely used. The other five materials gave good results, DDT being the least expensive and the most persistent, although it took more than 24 hours to reduce the plant-hopper populations. It was concluded that rice should be closely watched from its third to the end of its sixth month and that 50 oz. of DDT 20 per cent. e.c. in 50 gallons of water per acre, or an equivalent formulation of some other insecticide, should be sprayed on the rice stems if the planthopper density should exceed 10 per stem. Other possible measures for controlling rice planthoppers would include the introduction of Dryinid wasps parasitising N. lugens, the development of rice varieties resistant to planthopper attacks, and the use of controlled flooding in high-bunded fields, but on present evidence the first two appear to hold little promise of success.

Pond studies were conducted at Tishomingo, Oklahoma with wettable powder 2,6-dichlorobenzonitrile (dichlobenil) and at Denver, Colorado with granular dichlobenil to measure chronic effects on fish and other effects on the ecosystem. Decline of the herbicide was rapid at Tishomingo, with only about 3% of the material remaining after 11 days, while at Denver the herbicide took 3 weeks to reach peak concentration in the water and was still measurable in the water after 189 days. Dichlobenil was present in bottom sediments after 312 days at Tishomingo and after 166 days at Denver. Weeds were controlled at both locations, but regrowth occurred after 3 months in ponds treated at 10 and 20 ppm dichlobenil. No immediate mortality was sustained by fish at either locality, but day-to-day mortality was serious at higher concentrations at Tishomingo. Reproduction apparently was affected by higher dichlobenil levels at Tishomingo. Growth of fish was fastest in ponds treated with highest rates of dichlobenil at Tishomingo, and slowest in the untreated ponds. Residues of dichlobenil developed in fish from all ponds, but faster at Tishomingo than at Denver, and larger in high-treatment ponds than in low-treatment ponds. Some pathology was seen in liver, kidney, and pancreas of Tishomingo fish.

The effect of DDT applied to cotton plants four times at 10-day intervals at a rate of 1 lb. active ingredient per acre per application against Hemitarsonemus latus Banks was studied at Serere Eesearch Station, Uganda. DDT applied as a 10 per cent, dust, or in a spray from a 50 per cent, wettable powder increased the damage caused by the mite, while DDT applied in a spray from a 25 per cent. miscible liquid decreased it.Another trial using a DDT miscible-liquid spray applied at intervals of 10, 15 and 20 days at 1 lb. active ingredient per acre per application demonstrated partial control of the mite. However, when spraying ceased, tea-mite damage increased. At the final count all spray intervals showed significantly less damage than the control and there was an over-all significant difference between spray treatments and the control. In both trials the number of mite-infested plants increased in an exponential manner with time.It is not considered that the present recommended practice of applying DDT four times, at 15-day intervals, in a spray from 25 per cent, miscible liquid at 1 lb. active ingredient per acre will cause an increase of the mite on peasant-grown cotton in Uganda, although it will only partially control any infestation of it that is present.

The effects of residual sprays of methoxy-DDT wettable powder at 2 g/m2 on the mortality and behaviour of Anopheles gambiae Giles, Mansonia uniformis (Theo.) and Culex pipiens fatigans Wied. females were investigated in four verandah-trap huts, one of which was used as control. The overall mortality of no species ever exceeded 29%, and no consistent deterrent effect on entry was demonstrated. The proportions of mosquitoes in the exit traps were, for A. gambiae 80–90% in treated huts and 29–70% in the control, for M. uniformis 90–100% in treated and control huts, and for C. p. fatigans 26–84% in treated huts and 38–66% in the control. There were more unfed mosquitoes of all three species in the treated huts than in the control, for A. gambiae 35–64% and 10–53%, respectively, for M. uniformis 38–84% and 35–64%, respectively, and for C. p. fatigans 22–58% and 21–43%, respectively. Bioassays with wild-caught A. gambiae exposed to the treated surfaces for one hour, showed that the deposits remained highly toxic for 16 weeks on grass, six weeks on iron and two weeks, or less, on mud.

The optimum size range of particles of two carbamates and two organophosphorus compounds in deposits on plywood and plaster for contact toxicity to blood-fed females of Anopheles stephensi List, was 5–30 µm. The effect of particle size on the contact toxicity of these compounds of high intrinsic toxicity was not great and in this respect resembled that found previously for dieldrin and γBHC. In the few tests done, the concentration of active ingredient in wettable powder formulations was not an important factor in determining the contact toxicity of deposits of such toxic materials.

It is suggested that if the vapour of an insecticide is rapidly adsorbed by a substrate the rate of volatilisation of the molecules of insecticide particles lying on the substrate is greatly increased. This explains the rapid loss of effectiveness of wettable powders on some soils. After the insecticide has been sorbed it is concentrated at and near the treated surface but afterwards slowly diffuses inwards. This diffusion reduces recoveries of insecticides from surface scrapings.DDT can be recovered quantitatively from Uganda mud blocks 12 months after sorption is complete. Therefore, on this mud at least, catalytic decomposition does not occur.A test has been devised for measuring the sorptive capacities of soil samples for non-polar vapours. It indicates if a soil is highly active but those with lower or negligible activities do not give a good correlation.A survey of 18 soils from different parts of the world suggests that rapid inactivation of an insecticide by sorption should be expected on any red lateritic soil. Generally, others are inert or show only low activity.Attempts to reduce or abolish the sorptive powers of Uganda soil have not been successful and the only effective method known at present is to limewash the walls before spraying. Pretreatment with a size solution also stops sorption but, unlike limewashing, at the same time reduces the efficiency of a subsequently applied wettable powder.Finally, work by various authors on the inactivation of insecticides on mud surfaces is reviewed.

Experimental huts similar in construction to the dwellings commonly used in East Africa, but with exit window traps, were sprayed with various formulations of the three residual insecticides, DDT, BHC, and dieldrin, and the effect on the A. gambiae and A. funestus entering them was observed.The almost complete absence of kill recorded by Muirhead Thomson (1950) in experiments in similar huts in Tanganyika treated with DDT Ditreen was not confirmed by these experiments.A significant proportion of the A. gambiae and A. funestus entering huts treated with DDT did, however, escape unharmed, even immediately after treatment, whereas with the other insecticides, BHC and dieldrin, none of these mosquitos escaped the effect at least in the first month after treatment.In preliminary experiments in which observations were carried on for nine months after treatments, BHC P.530 still showed some effect after seven months. This was almost certainly due to the fumigant effect of the small amount of insecticide still remaining below the wall surface. The irritant properties of the two DDT formulations, Ditreen and the oil-bound suspension “Supona” D, still existed after nine months.In a second group of experiments, dosages of less than 80 mg. DDT and less than 60 mg. BHC (8 mg. of the gamma isomer) per sq. ft. gave over 50 per cent. kills of A. gambiae and A. funestus for only one month.In a third group of experiments, using two formulations of BHC, five of DDT, one of a mixture of DDT and BHC and one of dieldrin:—(a) Dieldrin was by far the most efficient insecticide and gave very high kills for over seven months.(b) The DDT formulations, Murphy paste, Murphy wettable powder, suspensions of DDT crystals (c) The BHC formulations, P.520 and the oil-bound suspension “Supona” B, gave high kills for three to four months only.(d) The mixture of BHC and DDT in oil-bound suspension “Supona” DB gave the high initial kill of BHC and the long-lasting moderately high kill of DDT.(e) Against C. fatigans all the DDT formulations used in the third group of experiments gave very low kills, the BHC formulations high initial kills and dieldrin high long-lasting kills.BHC has marked fumigant and particulate properties lasting for three to four months. Dieldrin has a remarkable particulate action, which produces for the whole six-month period of the experiment, very high kills among mosquitos suspended without actual contact with the insecticidal surfaces; DDT only shows this particulate effect to a slight extent.It is probable that the differences in the toxicities to mosquitos of the insecticides used in these experiments is due partly to differences in the irritant properties of the insecticides. In the case of DDT many of the mosquitos having contact with this insecticide are irritated and escape from the treated surface before acquiring a lethal dose.

The bean fly, Melanagromyza. phaseoli (Coq.), the larvae of which tunnel in the stems of Phaseolus vulgaris, is a pest of this crop in Tanganyika. Field trials there in 1956 on haricot-type beans showed that dressing the seed with chlorinated-hydrocarbon insecticides could prevent attack for at least 30 days after germination; organophosphorus insecticides were less effective. In four further field trials (A-D), in 1957, the insecticides and types of formulation used were aldrin (wettable powder and emusifiable concentrate (EC)), endrin (EC), γ BHC (dry dressing and EC), dieldrin (dry dressing and EC) and a proprietary organophosphorus systemic (dry dressing). Wet dressings were applied by treating the seeds with the liquid and drying immediately, and in one treatment aldrin as a wettable powder was applied dry and the seeds then damped and dried at once.Damage was assessed on an arbitrary scale on trials A and B, and yields measured on trials A, C and D. Results varied between insecticides and under different growing conditions, but wet dressing with endrin at 213 mg. per 100 g. seed, of which about 50 per cent, was retained on the seeds, resulted in the lowest damage, amounting to 7·7 compared with 52·6 for the control (no dressing), and the highest yield, amounting to 13·5 units compared with 8·6 for the control. All treatments, except that with the organophosphorus dust, reduced the damage significantly below that in the control. Wet dressings were usually more effective than dry dressings with the same insecticide, as regards both yield and reduction in damage. This may be associated with the better retention of wet dressings, which was shown by the results of chemical analysis of the residues on the seeds left in the drill hopper after sowing.

Mosquitos continue to enter occupied, untreated native huts throughout the night, with peak periods of entry at dusk and dawn. Early morning mosquito catches do not give a true picture of the numbers entering and leaving huts during the night.In a series of catches 63 per cent. of 5,576 mosquitos and 79 per cent. of 506 Anopheles gambiae were caught resting on the underside of the thatch roof.By using five traps inserted in apertures one foot below the top of the wall, the numbers of mosquitos attempting to leave a hut were determined. Of 1,014 mosquitos entering huts before 10 p.m., 63 per cent. remained inside until 6.30 a.m., that is for 8½ hours. Catches to estimate numbers entering and leaving at different times during the night were also made.Treatment of huts with DDT wettable powder and DDT-kerosene solution did not interfere with the normal behaviour of mosquitos as far as entry was concerned. Biting occurred in the treated huts.The DDT wettable powder appeared to be more effective than the DDT-kerosene solution.Some mosquitos entered the treated huts, fed and then left before acquiring a lethal dose. After making contact with treated surfaces mosquitos became restless but, under the conditions existing in the huts during the experiments, activation did not result in more leaving the treated huts than the untreated one. Unfortunately there were few A. gambiae and the predominant species entering the huts was Taeniorhynchus fuscopennatus.Some of the female A. gambiae released into unoccupied DDT-treated huts escaped into the traps before acquiring a lethal dose. Although there was a tendency for more to enter the traps of a DDT-treated hut than those of an untreated hut, the data are insufficient to show a significant difference.The majority of mosquitos entering the traps did so within one hour of their release.No mosquitos were still alive 12 hours after their release in huts treated 17 weeks previously with DDT wettable powder or DDT-kerosene solution, or in the hut treated 12 weeks previously with "“Gammexane” wettable powder.

Cattle kept at the Latoli kraal of the Indian Veterinary Research Institute at Mukteswar in the Kumaon foothills of the Himalayas were heavily infested with the tick Boophilus microplus (Can.). In order to reduce the infestation, the animals were treated with BHC dusts every season for a number of years. In 1960, it was noticed that the treatment was not as effective as in the previous years. A series of concentration/response tests was therefore carried out in 1961–62 to see whether or not the tick had developed any resistance to BHC. Ticks collected from cattle in a village about five miles distant, where no acaricide had ever been applied, were used as the standard for comparison. BHC as a wettable powder was used to provide six different concentrations of γ BHC for engorged females and unfed larvae, respectively. Treatment was by appropriate dipping techniques. Analysis of the results showed that the population of B. microplus infesting cattle at the Latoli kraal had developed resistance to BHC. The LC50's of γ BHC for engorged females and unfed larvae, respectively, of the Latoli population were 0.5164 and 0.0182 per cent., and of the village population 0.0834 and 0.00069 per cent. This seems to be the first record of any species of tick developing resistance to an acaricide in India.It was found that the mean number of eggs laid per tick in the control batches was higher in the village population than in the Latoli population and that the difference was highly significant.

The persistence of DDT deposits on vegetation in the Northern Guinea Savannah zone of Nigeria was studied by chemical analysis of leaf samples and by bioassay tests with teneral females of Glossina palpalis (R.-D.). Two formulations of DDT were used, one (A) made by mixing a 75 per cent, wettable powder with water to give a 5 per cent, suspension, the other (B) made by adding a household detergent to A at the rate of 3·8 g. per gal. suspension. They were applied to foliage by knapsack sprayer in August 1964, about the middle of the rainy season.It was noted that the particles deposited from B were finer and more evenly distributed over the leaf surface than were those from A. Chemical analysis of leaf samples showed that the deposit from B was initially the higher. Both deposits declined greatly during the first six weeks after application, coinciding with the period of heaviest rainfall. Those from A and B reached 49·8 and 46·2 per cent., respectively, of their initial levels at the end of the second week, and 9·2 and 5·2 per cent, at the end of the sixth. From then to the end of the sixteenth week, when the observations ended, no further decline was observed. In the tests with G. palpalis, deposits from A and B caused mortalities of 60.3 and 66.8 per cent., respectively, in the fourth week and 79·4 and 82·8 in the fifth, no mortalities below the latter being subsequently observed up to the tenth week.It is considered that rainfall was the main factor responsible for removing the deposits from foliage. After the end of the rainy period, losses of the deposits became negligible. Deposits from B at first declined faster than those from A. It is considered that this was due to the faster removal by rain of the smaller particles.Heavily weathered deposits were highly toxic to G. palpalis under the test conditions, and it seems likely that under natural conditions of contact they would have exerted still greater toxicity.

The behaviour of mosquitos in contact with deposits from aqueous suspensions of insecticides has been studied by allowing them to alight individually and measuring the time to the first flight.Anopheles stephensi females flew from all formulations of DDT on various materials after approximately the same time of 2 to 4 minutes, but subsequent kills were high only when the deposit consisted of small (less than 10 microns) particles readily available for pick-up.Mosquitos were also activated by contact with fresh deposits of BHC wettable powder P.520, but all died very quickly. They were not disturbed, however, by the vapour from BHC deposits, when contact was prevented, until in an advanced stage of intoxication. The time to the first flight from surfaces treated with BHC wettable powder increased as the deposits aged and varied with different materials according to the rate of loss by evaporation and/or sorption.Mosquitos remained in contact with deposits of chlordane, dieldrin, aldrin and toxaphene for more than 30 minutes.Experiments with a number of DDT analogues and BHC isomers indicated that lipoid solubility and molecular structure are two factors governing the rate of penetration of a compound.The reactions of other species tested were similar to those of A. stephensi but kills of Culex p. molestus were significantly different from those of the Anopheline species after contact with deposits from a DDT wettable powder.

The significance of Glossina morsitans submorsitans Newst. to the livestock economy of Northern Nigeria is mentioned. Differences in the ecology of the fly have been noted in the Guinea and Sudan savannah zones, respectively. In the former, its distribution is relatively widespread and diffuse, whereas in the latter it is restricted to linear strips associated with river flood plains. The area dealt with in the present work lies in the Sudan zone. The relationship of the fly to its vegetational environment is described, there being a marked concentration of almost the whole tsetse population in evergreen forest islands of relatively limited extent in the second half of the dry season. The source of food is mainly warthog, which were numerous in the area.A focus of the fly, covering an area of seven square miles, in which the dryseason concentration sites, mainly forest islands, amounted to approximately 200 acres, was selected for an experiment. It was isolated from the main focus by a natural barrier five miles wide.Possible eradication measures in this focus are mentioned and reasons given for adopting the application of a residual insecticide.DDT, in the form of a 50 per cent, wettable powder as a 5 per cent, suspension of actual DDT in water, was applied, during the second half of the dry season, at an estimated rate of 20 lb. per acre to the evergreen forest islands, which had previously had paths slashed around and through them. Pneumatic knapsack sprayers were used. A preliminary trial showed that, for up to six weeks after application of the insecticide, examples of G. morsitans from unsprayed forest, placed in contact with sprayed leaves and bark, died in three hours, controls remaining alive for 24 hours. It is suggested that this good persistence may be attributable to the fact that the treated surfaces were in the shade, and that the application was made during the rainless season and at a time when the vegetation was dormant. There was a rapid decline in the population of G. morsitans after spraying. The flies persisted longest (5 weeks) in a site associated with Mitragyna inermis. One application only was given to one part of the focus and in many others one application would probably have sufficed, the second being given in most instances to control G. tachinoides Westw., which was also present, and only in two instances for the eradication of G. morsitans that persisted after the first application. One of these was the site associated with Mitragyna inermis, mentioned above. The last specimen of G. morsitans was caught five weeks after the first application, and none has been caught in the sprayed area for up to 18 months after spraying. The cost of the insecticide and labour to apply it amounted to £700 for an area of seven square miles of focus in which the dryseason concentration sites to which insecticide was applied amounted to approximately 200 acres. The final result regarding G. tachinoides was indefinite for reasons which are mentioned.

The persistence, as assessed by biological and chemical methods, of field deposits on apples from two spray programmes, each of DDT, carbaryl or azinphos-methyl, was compared throughout eight weeks following the first application in an orchard in south-eastern England. Newly emerged larvae of the codling moth, Cydia pomonella (L.), were used to assess, in the laboratory, the biological activity of the deposits. The spray programmes studied were (1) two applications of conventional concentrations (i.e., 0·1 per cent, for DDT and for carbaryl, 0·04 per cent, for azinphos-methyl) three weeks apart and (2) three applications of half these concentrations at two-weekly intervals. DDT wettable powder, carbaryl and azinphos-methyl were compared in 1961, DDT emulsion, DDT wettable powder and carbaryl in 1963. Results of biological and chemical assessment of the deposits are presented graphically. Over-all, the performance of the three-application programmes was as satisfactory as that of the two-application programmes, although a smaller amount of chemical was used. The serious reduction in deposit caused by heavy rain shortly after the first application of DDT wettable powder and of carbaryl in 1961 is noted. In the absence of heavy rain, carbaryl was biologically the most persistent, but the best performances of the other chemicals were almost as good as that of carbaryl.LD50 values of fresh deposits obtained by field spraying were shown to be similar to those obtained by laboratory dipping.Comparison of the toxicity of fresh and weathered field deposits of similar magnitude indicated that the biologically available proportion of a DDT deposit from either formulation decreases as a result of weathering. This phenomenon was not found to occur with carbaryl and either not at all or to a much lesser extent with azinphos-methyl.The deposits obtained in the comparison of the spray programmes were separated into their fresh and aged components, so that differences in the contribution to the final deposit provided by each application could be seen. With the very persistent DDT emulsion, only about half of the six-week deposits was composed of chemical from the final application, but, with the much less persistent carbaryl and azinphos methyl, the six-week deposits were almost entirely derived from the final application. By substitution in an equation to obtain the rates of decay of the deposits from the three-application programmes of all chemicals, it is shown that deposits from the second and third applications were, in all cases, more persistent than those from the first. Possible reasons for this difference are discussed.The significance, in terms of field control, of the results for the larvicidal activity of the deposits from the different spray programmes is indicated. It is concluded that data on the LD90 of insecticidal deposits on apples, together with measurement of their persistence in the field, can be used to assess the probable field performance of codling-moth insecticides and to determine the most efficient means of employing them, although the deposit level that ensures 90 per cent, larval mortality in the field is higher than the LD90 determined in the laboratory.

Field tests were conducted on Soutra Hill (1,100 ft. above M.S.L.) in the winters of 1953–4 and 1954–5 to find a suitable larvicide for controlling Culicoides impunctatus Goetgh. In one trial, four formulations (wettable powder, water-miscible concentrate, oil solution and dust) of DDT and γ BHC were applied to plots (10 × 10 yd.) at dosages of 3, 12, 50 and 200 mg. p.p′DDT or γ BHC/sq. ft., except for the γ BHC dust which was applied at 3, 6, 12 and 25 mg. γ BHC/sq. ft. In a second trial, the larvicidal properties of aldrin, dieldrin and malathion wettable powders, chlordane water-miscible concentrate and malathion emulsi-fiable liquid were investigated at three or four of the following dosages —3, 6, 12. 25 and 50 mg./sq. ft. The conclusions to be drawn from these trials were:—1. DDT was superior to γ BHC at all dosages and in all formulations both in immediate and residual effects.2. For immediate larval control, DDT and γ BHC wettable powders and DDT water-miscible concentrate were effective but γ BHC water-miscible concentrate was relatively ineffective.3. Although all the DDT preparations were effective as residual larvicides, the wettable powder was the most successful.4. For immediate larval control a dosage of 200 mg. p, p′DDT or γ BHC is required. The effect produced by 50 mg./sq. ft. is variable.5. For residual larvicidal action a dosage of 50 mg./sq. ft. is required although 12 mg./sq. ft. may sometimes be effective.6. Both preparations of malathion reduced the initial larval density by just over half but they had no residual effect.7. Chlordane and aldrin achieved an immediate larval reduction of one third but whereas chlordane had a greater residual effect, aldrin was ineffective.8. Dieldrin had very little immediate (20 per cent. control) but considerable residual effect (72 per cent. control).9. Wettable powders are the most successful larvicidal preparations.10. DDT and γ BHC wettable powders at 50 mg. p, p′DDT or γ BHC/sq. ft. are superior to chlordane at the same dosage and slightly better than dieldrin at 25 mg./sq. ft.