THE DEVELOPMENT OF A WATER-JACKETED MEMBRANE FEEDER REPELLENT TESTING SYSTEM FOR BLACK FLIES (DIPTERA: SIMULIIDAE)

An in vitro repellent testing system for use with colony reared black flies, Simulium vittatum, is described. Postoviposition female S. vittatum were exposed to latex membranes treated with 15 μl of commercially available insect repellents every 2 h, up to 12 h. Repellents tested were the following: Repel® Plant-Based Lemon Eucalyptus Insect Repellent 2 (30% oil of lemon eucalyptus [OLE]); OFF!® Botanicals Insect Repellent IV (10% p-menthane-3,8-diol [PMD]); and Zevo™ On-Body (20% 3-[N-butyl-N-acetyl]-aminopropionic acid, ethyl ester, IR3535®). Untreated membranes served as control. The PMD and IR3535 had negative correlations between repellency rate and time (IR3535, m (slopes of mean repellencies over time) = -6.64; and PMD, m = -5.28), whereas OLE had none (m = 0). Statistical analysis demonstrated significance within all groups that included OLE or the control (P < 0.00), but none for groups consisting of PMD or IR3535 (P = 0.31).