Progress 10/01/07 to 09/30/12
Outputs
OUTPUTS: An average of >12 presentations annual to professional societies and extension clientele. Participated as member, Secretary, and Vice Chair of USDA S-1030 Multi-state project. This project produced annual reports of member accomplishements. I was Chair of the S-temp 2882 Multi-state Project Development Committee and oversaw the development of a new 5-yr research/extension project that will begin in 2013. I assisted with producer/County disputes in two states and 6 CA counties related to the dispersal of nuisance flies from animal facilities. Collaborators at UCR and I developed a software program "FlySpotter" to automate the process of counting house fly spots on "spot cards" to support animal facility IPM programs for management of house fly. The program is currently being tested by several researchers across the country. I began development of a website (Arthropod Pests of Animals) to serve as an extension outlet for information on pests of animals and the management of these pests. Information is routinely disseminated from me through professional and extension presenations, as web pages on the Arthropod Pests of Animals website, through scientific manuscripts and extension documents (detailed below), and through direct communication with clientele and other extension personnel via email and telephone. PARTICIPANTS: Co-PIs/PDs: Brad Mullens (UCR, Entomology), Jocelyn Millar (UCR, Entomology), Jim MacLachlan (UCD, Vet School), Astri Wayadande (Oklahoma State, Entomology), Justin Talley (Oklahoma State, Entomology). Graduate Students: Kim Hung (UCR, Entomology), Christie Mayo (UCD, Vet School), Lee McPhatter (UCR, Entomology), Amy Murillo (UCR, Entomology), Rebecca Pace (Oklahoma State, Entomology). Undergraduate Students: David Theuret (UCR, Entomology), Deny Sung (UCR, Biology), Bilal Khan (UCR, Biology), Diane Soto (UCR, Entomology). Partner Organizations: West Valley MVCD, Orange Co. VCD, Northwest MVCD, Santa Lucia Conservancy, Bayer. Collaborators: USDA S-1030 Multistate Project Group TARGET AUDIENCES: Target audiences include professional societies (in entomology, animal health, public health, and environmental management) and extension clientele including animal producers, public health and environmental health agencies, CA residents, and community development planners. These audiences were reached through extension presenations, direct communication via phone and email, on-site evaluations of problem areas, written documentation of assistance visits, facilitation of pest management efforts between county agencies and animal producers, extension documents produced as newsletters, short reports, or pest notes, and finally through a new website that I am developing to provide a single access point for information on arthropod pests of animals. PROJECT MODIFICATIONS: Nothing significant to report during this reporting period.
Impacts
The FlySpotter house fly monitoring program provides a much more efficient method for assessing fly activity at animal facilities and provides an objective record of fly activity to drive pest management decisions. Publications provided evidence for host feeding preferences of mosquitoes and explored the impact of the environement and management practices on bluetongue transmission; both areas of reserach impact diease risk assessments. Researchers in particular are using the information disseminated to alter their biting insect collection methods or are evaluating their reserach results in light of the variation in insect collection by trapping methods. Research in my laboratory has highlighted increasing resistance of house flies to a number of commercial available pesticides; producers are moving away from these pesticides to products with alternative active ingrediants or are adopting non-pesticide management techniques for the management of nuisance flies, including house flies. The role of nuisance flies, particularly house flies and Calliphorid flies, in the transmission of pathogens has been made more clear through research projects in my lab. Producers are now considering fly management to reduce the risk of transmission of pathogens of human and animal concern.
Publications
- Mullens, B., Soto, D., Martin, C., Callaham, B., Gerry, A. 2012. Northern fowl mite (Ornithonyssus sylviarum) control evaluations using liquid formulations of diatomaceous earth, kaolin, sulfur, azadirachtin, and Beauveria bassiana on caged laying hens. Journal of Applied Poultry Research. Vol. 21: p.111-116.
- Mayo, C., Mullens, B., Gerry, A., Barker, C., Mertens, P., Maan, S., Maan, N., Gardner, I., Guthrie, A., MacLachlan, J. 2012. The combination of abundance and infection rates of Culicoides sonorensis estimates risk of subsequent bluetongue virus infection of sentinel cattle on California dairy farms. Veterinary Parasitology. Vol. 187: p.295-301. (Refereed) History Edit Delete
- Cohnstaedt, L., Rochon, K., Duehl, A., Anderson, J., Berrera, R., Su, N., Gerry, A., Obenauer, P., Campbell, J., Lysyk, T.J., Allan, S. 2012. Arthropod surveillance programs: Basic components, strategies, and analysis. Annals of the Entomology Society of America. Vol. 105: p.135-149.
- Gerry, Alec Issued 2012. Research and Extension Accomplishments of the USDA S1030 Multistate Research Program (2011). USDA-CRIS Washington, DC. USDA-NIFA.
- Gerry, A. Issued 2012. Final 5-year report of the USDA S1030 Multistate Research Program. USDA-CRIS Washington, D.C. USDA-NIFA.
- Lura, T., Cummings, R., Velten, R.K., De Collibus, K., Morgan, T., Nguyen, K., Gerry, A. 2012. Host (Avian) Biting Preference of Southern California Culex Mosquitoes (Diptera: Culicidae). Journal of Medical Entomology. Vol. 49: p.687-696.
- Mayo, C.E., Gardner, I.A., Mullens, B.A., Barker, C.M., Gerry, A.C., Guthrie, A.J., MacLachlan, N.J. 2012. Anthropogenic and meteorological factors influence vector abundance and prevalence of bluetongue virus infection of dairy cattle in California. Veterinary Microbiology. Vol. 155: p.158-164.
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Progress 01/01/11 to 12/31/11
Outputs
OUTPUTS: Published project outcomes from applied research project to examine methods for monitoring house flies on large commercial dairy operations in California. This published article was highlighted at the Entomological Society of America annual national meeting as one of the highest impact articles in veterinary entomology to be published in 2011. We have continued to improve the FlySpotter software program which automates counting "fly spots" with the most recent version almost ready for commercialization. The algorithm used by the computer to counts spots has received a copyright to UC Riverside. This project is nearing its five year end date. During the last year, project participants have begun developing a new multi-state project that will focus on the biology and management of muscoid flies. Work continues to evaluate house fly response to odor volatiles associated with honeydew. An olfactometer systems has been improved to test fly response to volatiles, and a cage choice assay has proven to give consistent results showing fly response to honeydews. PARTICIPANTS: Gerald Higginbotham (UCCE Fresno), Carol Collar (UCCE Kings), Christian Shelton (UC Riverside), Jocelyn Millar (UC Riverside), Themis Michailides (Kearny Ag. Station, UC Davis), Kim Hung (UC Riverside), Steve McElfresh (UC Riverside), Astri Wayadande (Oklahoma State University), Justin Talley (Oklahoma State University) Funded projects supported a student (Kim Hung) in the Gerry laboratory and two stduents at Oklahoma State University. Professional development was provided to PIs and collaborators (Gerry, Higginbotham, Collar, Shelton, Millar, McElfresh, Wayadande, and Talley). TARGET AUDIENCES: UCCE Livestock farm advisors, commercial dairy industry, commercial poultry industry, leafy green industry, cattle industry, food production industry. The development and copyright of a computer program using computer vision technology to count and record house fly activity on large commercial animal agriculture facilities will find use. This program begin with funding from USDA-Hatch supplemented with funds from UC-ANR to demonstrate the feasibility of using this program. Recent changes to animal agriculture rules (by FDA) require monitoring of filth flies, including house flies, and this program will provide an efficient mechanism to comply with this federal requirement. PROJECT MODIFICATIONS: Nothing significant to report during this reporting period.
Impacts
Recently, the poultry industry has been mandated to have a fly monitoring program. The timing is right for adoption of the FlySpotter program to increase accuracy and reduce producer time involved with fly monitoring. As the software enters commercial production, it is expected that producers will elect to use this program. The ongoing research with house fly response to honeydew has resulted in the development of a number of skills by senior project personnel and students for assessing house fly response to odors and determining these specific odors. We expect by next year to begin multi-volatile trials in the laboratory to assess fly response to volatile blends.
Publications
- Mayo, C.E., Gardner, I.A., Mullens, B.A., Barker, C.M., Gerry, A.C., Guthrie, A.J., MacLachlan, N.J. 2011. Anthropogenic and meteorological factors influence vector abundance and prevalence of bluetongue virus infection of dairy cattle in California. Veterinary Microbiology. Vol. 155: p.158-164. (Refereed)
- Mullens, B., Soto, D., Martin, C., Callaham, B., Gerry, A. 2012. Northern fowl mite (Ornithonyssus sylviarum) control evaluations using liquid formulations of diatomaceous earth, kaolin, sulfur, azadirachtin, and Beauveria bassiana on caged laying hens. Journal of Applied Poultry Research. p.111-116. (Refereed)
- Mayo, C., Mullens, B., Gerry, A., Barker, C., Mertens, P., Maan, S., Maan, N., Gardner, I., Guthrie, A., MacLachlan, J. 2012. The combination of abundance and infection rates of Culicoides sonorensis estimates risk ofsubsequent bluetongue virus infection of sentinel cattle on California dairy farms. Veterinary Parasitology. (Accepted 01/08/2012. 27 manuscript pages.) (Refereed)
- Cohnstaedt, L., Rochon, K., Duehl, A., Anderson, J., Berrera, R., Su, N., Gerry, A., Obenauer, P., Campbell, J., Lysyk, T.J., Allan, S. 2012. Arthropod surveillance programs: Basic components, strategies, and analysis. Annals of the Entomology Society of America. (Accepted 01/25/2012. 16 galley pages.) (Refereed)
- Maas, J., Gerry, A. Issued 2011. Beef Cattle Fly Control in 2011. California Cattlemen's Magazine. UC Davis Vet Views. (Non-Refereed)
- Lura, T., Cummings, R., Velten, R.K., De Collibus, K., Morgan, T., Nguyen, K., Gerry, A. 2012. Host (Avian) Biting Preference of Southern California Culex Mosquitoes (Diptera: Culicidae). Journal of Medical Entomology. (Accepted 02/16/2012. 27 manuscript pages.) (Refereed)
- Gerry, A.C., Mullens, B.A. 2011. Efficacy of dimilin for control of house flies in poultry and dairy manure. Arthropod Management Tests 36 (K). Entomological Society of America . (Non-Refereed, Electronic)
- Gerry, A.C. Issued 2011. 2010 Accomplishments of the USDA S1030 Multistate Research Program. USDA-CRIS, Washington, DC. USDA-NIFA. 8p. (Non-Refereed)
- Schoonmaker, K., Higginbotham, G., Gerry, A. 2011. Swat fewer flies. Newsletter. Dairy Calf & Heifer Association. (Non-Refereed)
- Mohr, R., Mullens, B.A., Gerry, A. 2011. Diel Patterns of Female Host-Seeking, Male Swarming, and Sugar Feeding in the Canyon Fly, Fannia conspicua (Diptera: Muscidae) in Southern California. Journal of Medical Entomology. Vol. 48: p.188-195. (Refereed)
- Mohr, R., Mullens, B.A., Gerry, A. 2011. Evaluation of ammonia, human sweat, and bovine blood as attractants for the female canyon fly, Fannia conspicua (Diptera: Muscidae), in southern California. Journal of Vector Ecology. Vol. 36: 1 p.55-58. (Refereed)
- Gerry, A., Higginbotham, G., Pereira, L., Lam, A., Shelton, C. 2011. Evaluation of Surveillance Methods for Monitoring House Fly Abundance and Activity on Large Commercial Dairy Operations. Journal of Economic Entomology. Vol. 104: 3 p.1093-1102. (Refereed)
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Progress 01/01/10 to 12/31/10
Outputs
OUTPUTS: During the past year, Jerry Higginbotham (UC Advisor, Fresno Co.) and I completed projects examining methods for an improved house fly monitoring program. I was the lead PI on grants to test several house fly monitoring methods at three large California dairies. We discoverd that a method for monitoring abundnace that relies on flies passively resting on "spot cards" was superior to other methods in terms of precision and time spent on monitoring. However, recognizing that even this method was overly time consuming for a dairy operator, I collaborated with a faculty member in the UCR Computer Science Department (Christian Shelton) to develop a spot card counting program using face recognition technology to automate this system thereby resulting in significant cost and time savings. We have copyrighted this software with UCR and are now looking for a private company that may want to further develop and market this software for use by the animal agriculture industry. In my laboratory we have also continued to look at resistance of house flies to insecticides; and especially to the behavioral components of this resistance expression. An undergraduate student in my laboratory completed studies showing that house flies resistant to the insectide imidacloprid in a sugar bait formulation were not detecting the pesticide until contact was made, and that following contact flies would quickly leave the bait without consuming enough bait material to be killed. The role of filth flies in the transmission of human pathogens from animal facilities to human food crops continues to be studied in my lab. With a collaborative grant funded by the USDA-NIFSI, we are working with faculty at UC Riverside, UC Davis, and Oklahoma State University to determine why filth flies move to human food crops and by what mechanisms might they be involved in contaminating food crops in which they rest. PARTICIPANTS: 1. Alec C. Gerry (PI) - overall responsibility for project 2. Diane Zhang (Lab Assistant) - rearing of fly colonies, insecticide susceptibility testing 3. Seemanti Chakrabarti (Post-doctoral researcher) - principal researcher examining the role of flies in the transmission of pathogens and the attraction of flies to homopteran honeydew sugars. 4. Asti Wayadande, Justin Talley, and Jackie Fletcher (partner organization, Oklahoma State University) - collaboration to examine the role of flies in the transmission of food-borne pathogens to leafy green crops. 5. Jerry Higginbotham (collaborator, Fresno County Cooperative Extension - collaboration to determine the best method for monitoring house flies at a large dairy. Will also be organizing demonstration project to showcase automated fly monitoring system. 6. Christian Shelton (collaborator, UCR Computer Science) - collaboration to develop object recognition software to count fly spots on monitoring cards and to develop a computer program for data analysis and fly control recommendations. 7. Brad Mullens (collaborator, UCR Entomology) - collaboration to examine the attraction of flies to homopteran honeydews. 8. Jeff Scott, Don Rutz, Phil Kaufmann (partner organization, Cornell University, New York) - part of national team to examine insecticide susceptibility of house flies across the U.S. TARGET AUDIENCES: Target audiences have included the scientific community reached at several national meetings such as the Livestock Insect Workers Conference and the Entomological Society of America Annual Meeting as well as through publication of research results in scientific journals; commodity groups such as the poultry and dairy reached through presentation at annual workshops such as the California Poultry Federation Workshop and California Dairy Herdsmen Shortcourse as well as publication of short articles in Farm Advisor newsletters or UC ANR publications; and public health agencies reached through presentations at annual meetings and workshops of the Mosquito and Vector Control Association and the California Conference of the Directors of Environmental Health. PROJECT MODIFICATIONS: Not relevant to this project.
Impacts
We have found that a house fly monitoring method using "spot cards" was the most efficient and precise method of monitoring changes in house fly abundance at large commercial dairy operations. We developed and tested a computer software program called "FlySpotter" which can be utized to count spot cards. By combining the information we learned with the development of this software, we have made available for the first time an IPM program for house flies that has a chance of being accepted and utilized by growers. Our work with fly resistance has shown that toxicant resistant flies are not repelled at some distance by a bait to which they are resistant, but rather are repelled immediately following contact with the toxicant. This is relatively good news as a simple switch in the toxicant material is likely to return the bait to effectiveness. We have developed methods for examining the behavior of house flies in terms of attraction to honeydew and other potential attractive materials associated with food crops. The development of this methodology will allow us to begin examining house fly response to specific honeydew volatiles during the next 2 years.
Publications
- Wasik, D. , Gerry, Alec. , . 2010. Behavioral adaptations of house flies (Musca domestica L.) to avoid the insecticide imidacloprid. Undergraduate Research Journal, Vol. IV. . University of California, Riverside. p.39-43. (Refereed) Website: http://ugrj.ucr.edu/. Gerry, Alec. , . 2010. New cattle ear tag for horn fly management. 1p. Statewide UC Cooperative Extension Newsletters. (Non-Refereed) Gerry, Alec. C. , Wayadande, A. C. , Talley, J. L. , Wasala, L. P. , . 2010. Protecting food crops from contamination with filth fly transmitted human pathogens. HortScience 45(8). p.S 33. Annual Conference of the American Society for Horticultural Science. Palm Springs, CA. (Non-Refereed, , Invited) Higginbotham, G. , Gerry, Alec. , Collar, C. , Reed, L. , . 2010. Nuisance fly production capacity of three types of manurehandling systems. J. Dairy Sci. Vol. 93, E-Suppl. 1. p.610. (Non-Refereed, ) Gerry, Alec. , Higginbotham, G. , Pereira, L. , Lam, A. , Shelton, C. , . Evaluation of Surveillance Methods for Monitoring House Fly (Musca domestica) Abundance and Activity on Large Commercial Dairy Operations. Journal of Economic Entomology. (Submitted 10/20/2010.) (Refereed)
- Mullens, B. A. , Gerry, Alec. , Diniz, A. N. , . 2010. Field and Laboratory Trials of a Novel Metaflumizone House Fly (Diptera: Muscidae) Bait in California. Journal of Economic Entomology. Vol. 103: 2 p.550-556. (Refereed)
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Progress 01/01/09 to 12/31/09
Outputs
OUTPUTS: Presentations (presenter is listed first unless underlined): Gerry, A. C. "Manure management considerations relative to house fly production". Western Dairy Air Quality Symposium. Albuquerque, NM. March 24, 2009. Gerry, A. C. "About those flies: Canyon fly ecology". Santa Lucia Conservancy, Carmel, CA. May 21, 2009. Gerry, A. C. "Highlights in veterinary entomology". Annual Meeting of the Entomological Society of America. Indianapolis, IN. December 13, 2009. Gerry, A. C. and Zhang, D. "Behavioral resistance to insecticides exhibited by house flies". Annual Meeting of the Pacific Branch of the Entomological Society of America. San Diego, CA. March 29, 2009. Higginbotham, G. E., L. N. Pereira, and A. C. Gerry. "Improving IPM of house flies at commercial dairy operations through pest monitoring and determination of nuisance threshold". American Dairy Science Association. Montreal, Canada. July 12, 2009. Waski, D. and A. C. Gerry. "House fly behavioral resistance to imidacloprid". Southern California Conference of Undergraduate Research. Northridge, CA. November 12, 2009. PARTICIPANTS: Gerald (Jerry) Higginbotham (UCCE Farm Advisor, Fresno Co.), Carol Collar (UCCE Farm Advisor, Kings Co.), Christian Shelton (UCR Asst. Professor of Computer Science), Justin Talley (OSU Assistant Professor of Entomology), Astri Wayadande (OSU Assistant Professor of Entomology) TARGET AUDIENCES: Target audiences have included traditional extension clientele - Farm Advisors, Specialists, and industry representatives. These individuals have been reached through extension presentations given by myself and my collaborators during this reporting period. Presentations at the national Livestock Entomology Meeting has also served as a great way to reach the pesticide and animal health product industries. Target audiences have also included professional entomologists at other universities and government agencies. This contact spurs collaborative or even competitive research that moves our findings forward. PROJECT MODIFICATIONS: Nothing significant to report during this reporting period.
Impacts
Relative house fly abundance at three large commercial dairies in central California was monitored over a ten week period during the peak fly activity period from June-August 2005 using spot cards (n=10), fly tapes (n=5), bait traps (n=5), and Alsynite traps (n=5) to evaluate these fly monitoring methods for use with a house fly IPM program. Sampling devices were replaced weekly. Fly tapes and Alsynite traps proved of limited value at the dairies due to the accumulation of dust covering their adhesive surface and preventing the capture of flies often after just a few days under field conditions. The number of male and female flies captured was significantly correlated for all monitoring methods, though male flies were captured in significantly greater numbers by most sampling devices. Mean weekly fly counts differed significantly by monitoring method, however counts for all monitoring methods were significantly related on two of three dairies. Spot card counts were significantly related to fly tape counts recorded the same week, and both spot card counts and fly tape counts were significantly related to bait trap counts 1-2 weeks later. Spot card and bait trap counts, but not fly tape counts, were also significantly correlated between these same two dairies. Mean fly counts differed significantly between dairies, but a significant interaction between dairies and monitoring methods makes comparisons between dairies unwise. Spot cards and bait traps had a similarly low coefficient of variation (CV = 0.06-0.09) indicating similar estimate precision relative to the significantly higher CV (0.11-0.15) for fly tapes. Using CV = 0.15 as a fixed level of precision and assuming that an action threshold is near the peak abundance measured by each method used in this study, an appropriate number of sampling devices for monitoring house flies at a large commercial dairy is 12 spot cards placed on mid-afternoon shaded fly resting sites near cattle or 7 bait traps placed in open habitat near cattle. Software (FlySpotter) using face recognition technology was developed to count fly spots on a scanned image of a spot card. This program is reasonably accurate (counts 70-80% of fly spots) and will drastically reduce the time invested in monitoring house flies using spot cards. Given the difficulty of counting flies in a bait trap, the use of spot cards for monitoring house flies is recommended.
Publications
- Talley, J. L., A. C. Wayadande, L. P. Wasala, A. C. Gerry, J. Fletcher, U. DeSilva, and S. E. Gilliland. 2009. Association of Escherichia coli O157:H7 with filth flies (Muscidae and Calliphoridae) captured in leafy greens fields and experimental transmission of E. coli O157:H7 to spinach leaves by house flies (Diptera: Muscidae). Journal of Food Protection. 72(7): 1547-1552.
- Gerry A, Zhang D. Behavioral resistance of house flies, Musca domestica (Diptera: Muscidae) to Imidacloprid. Army Med Dept J. July-September 2009: 54-59.
- M. S. Calvo, A. C. Gerry, J. McGarvey, T. L. Armitage,F. M. Mitloehner. 2010. Acidification of calf bedding reduces fly development and bacterial abundance. Journal of Dairy Science. Accepted, Nov 2009.
- Higginbotham, G. E., L. N. Pereira, and A. C. Gerry. 2009. Improving IPM of house flies at commercial dairy operations through pest monitoring and determination of nuisance threshold. J. Dairy Sci. 92: 413, E-Suppl. 1.
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Progress 01/01/08 to 12/31/08
Outputs
OUTPUTS: PRESENTATIONS: Gerry, A. C. "Nuisance fly identification, control, and resistance management". US Army Center for Health Promotion and Preventive Medicine Professional Training Series, Ft. Lewis, WA. January 31, 2008. Gerry, A. C. "Biology and control of little house fly (Fannia femoralis)". Yucaipa City Manager's Panel on Fly Control at Poultry Operations. Yucaipa, CA. May 28, 2008. Gerry, A. C. "Canyon fly biology and control". San Gabriel Valley Mosquito and Vector Control District. Azusa, CA. August 11, 2008. Gerry, A. C., S. Butler, B. A. Mullens. "Evaluating and Managing Pesticide Resistance in House Flies". Symposium: Efficacy Validation and Resistance Management. Annual Conference of the Mosquito and Vector Control Association of California. Palm Springs, CA. January 15, 2008. Gerry, A. C. "Fly management for the pest management professional". Urban Pest Management Conference. Riverside, CA. March 27, 2008. Gerry, A. C., B. A. Mullens, V. Sarto I Monteys, J. O. Moreno Vidal, and B. A. Mullens. "Biting rates of Culicoides midges on sheep in northeastern Spain". Livestock Insect Workers Conference, Kansas City, KS. June 20, 2008. CONSULTING: Consulting (compensated): Planning Partners - Update fly management guidelines for confined animal agriculture. Merced, CA. May 2008. PARTICIPANTS: Gerald (Jerry) Higginbotham (UCCE Farm Advisor, Fresno Co.) and Christian Shelton (UCR Asst. Professor of Computer Science) were Co-PI's on the UCIPM grant to develop and field test software to count fly spots on spot cards placed at large commercial dairies. Higgenbotham was responsible for management of the field trial. Shelton was responsible for development of the software program. I was the overall project director. Bradley Mullens (UCR Professor of Entomology) and I were Co-PI's on a mosquito abatement district grant to examine the attraction of house flies to homopteran-infested trees. My post-doctoral researcher (Seemanti Chakrabarti) conducted much of the laboratory work to examine house fly response to honeydew volatiles. Research examining pesticide susceptibility of house flies has both a national and local focus. Nationally we are working with several researchers from a number of states organized through Jeff Scott (Cornell University) to develop a nationwide picture of resistance. Locally, my lab technician (Diane Zhang) has been evaluating insecticide resistance relative to insecticide use patterns on a local scale. We have also begun to examine the role of behavioral resistance to the overall pattern of resistance in the field. TARGET AUDIENCES: Target audiences have included traditional extension clientele - Farm Advisors, Specialists, and industry representatives. These individuals have been reached through extension presentations given by myself and my collaborators during this reporting period. Presentations at the national Livestock Entomology Meeting has also served as a great way to reach the pesticide and animal health product industries. Target audiences have also included professional entomologists at other universities and government agencies. This contact spurs collaborative or even competitive research that moves our findings forward. PROJECT MODIFICATIONS: Nothing significant to report during this reporting period.
Impacts
Earlier research conducted by Higgenbotham (UCCE) and myself showed that fly spot cards were perhaps the most reliable method for monitoring numbers of house flies at large dairy operations. However, the use of the cards for monitoring fly abundance was previously limited by the time required for a dairy operator to visually count fly spots on the cards. A single spot card might require 5-20 minutes to be counted, and typically 5-10 cards are used as part of a monitoring program with cards replaced weekly. UCIPM funded research this year has resulted in the development of computer aided counting of spot cards using face recognition software. Spot cards can now be scanned and counted by computer in just a few minutes, providing real time data that can be used to determine appropriate control efforts. The increased efficiency provided by the automation of the spot counting process will make this monitoring tool more acceptable to dairy operators. Reearch funded by California Mosquito Abatement Districts has shown that house flies are strongly attracted to insect honeydew on which they will readily feed. This attraction is likely to be responsible for the large number of filth flies found in assocition with urban trees and agricultural crops infested with Homopteran pests. Resistance testing of California house flies has shown significant resistance of flies to several commonly used pesticide active ingredients. Resistance to imidacloprid could be characterized by use of pesticides containing this active ingredient. Choice tests showed that resistance in the field may be due more to avoidance behaviors than to actual physiological or physical resistance to the chemicals.
Publications
- Gerry, A. C., T. M. Nawaey, P. B. Sanghrajka, J. Wisniewska, and P. Hullinger. 2008. Comparison of a Horse and a Carbon Dioxide-Baited Suction Trap for Collecting Hematophagous Diptera in Southern California with a Discussion of Relevance to West Nile Virus Epidemiology. Journal of Medical Entomology. 45(1): 115-124.
- Kaufmann, P. E., A. C. Gerry, D. A. Rutz, and J. G. Scott. 2008. Monitoring susceptibility of house flies (Musca domestica L.) in the United States to Imidacloprid. Journal of Agricultural and Urban Entomology. 23(4): 195-200.
- Chakrabarti, S., D. J. King, C. J. Cardona, and A. C. Gerry. 2008. Persistence of exotic Newcastle disease virus (ENDV) in laboratory infected Musca domestica and Fannia canicularis. Avian Diseases. 52: 375-379.
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Progress 01/01/07 to 12/31/07
Outputs
OUTPUTS: During the past year, I have continued making progress on developing a viable monitoring technique for house flies (Musca domestica). Research in collaboration with Dr. Jerry Higginbotham (Farm Advisor, Fresno Co.) and funded by UC ANR to assess the value of several house fly monitoring techniques demonstrated that fly spot cards were an effective monitoring tool. I have now secured additional funding by UC ANR Demonstration Project Funds to develop object recognition computer programs in collaboration with Dr. Christian Shelton (UCR, Dept. of Computer Science) that will allow for the scanning of fly spot cards followed by data analysis and automated recommendations to make this monitoring tool useful to CAFO managers. Demonstration of this automated system will be conducted in collaboration with Dr. Jerry Higginbotham during the summer of 2008. I have also developed collaborations with faculty from Oklahoma State University to examine the role that flies have in the
transmission of food-borne pathogens to processed foods. This collaboration has been partly industry funded and we have already identified that flies found in food production sites are carrying pathogenic bacteria. We have submitted proposals to the USDA NRI to further assess the role of flies in the transmission of food-borne pathogens associated with leafy green vegetables. Over the last few years, in collaboration with faculty at Cornell University (New York) and the University of Florida, I have begun to examine the levels of insecticide resistance in house flies associated with animal agriculture. Lastly, I have begun to examine the apparent attraction of house flies to sources of sugar. It was noted by personnel at a public health agency that house flies could be found in high density in trees infested with homopterans producing honeydews. With funding from the West Valley Mosquito and Vector Control District, Dr. Brad Mullens (UCR Entomology) and I have begun to examine whether
these honeydews are attractive for flies, and if so what benefit do they provide to the flies. I expect that this line of inquiry will develop into examining the specific chemical components of honeydew that are serving as mid or long range attractants of house flies and other Dipterans. Dissemination of results: Results have been desiminated through publications in scientific journals and through presentation to commodity groups such as the California Poultry Federation, to public health agencies at annual workshops, and to the scientific community at several scientific meetings.
PARTICIPANTS: 1. Alec C. Gerry (PI) - overall responsibility for project 2. Diane Zhang (Lab Assistant) - rearing of fly colonies, insecticide susceptibility testing 3. Seemanti Chakrabarti (Post-doctoral researcher) - principal researcher examining the role of flies in the transmission of pathogens and the attraction of flies to homopteran honeydew sugars. 4. Asti Wayadande, Justin Talley, and Jackie Fletcher (partner organization, Oklahoma State University) - collaboration to examine the role of flies in the transmission of food-borne pathogens to leafy green crops. 5. Jerry Higginbotham (collaborator, Fresno County Cooperative Extension - collaboration to determine the best method for monitoring house flies at a large dairy. Will also be organizing demonstration project to showcase automated fly monitoring system. 6. Christian Shelton (collaborator, UCR Computer Science) - collaboration to develop object recognition software to count fly spots on monitoring cards and to develop a
computer program for data analysis and fly control recommendations. 7. Brad Mullens (collaborator, UCR Entomology) - collaboration to examine the attraction of flies to homopteran honeydews. 8. Jeff Scott, Don Rutz, Phil Kaufmann (partner organization, Cornell University, New York) - part of national team to examine insecticide susceptibility of house flies across the U.S.
TARGET AUDIENCES: Target audiences have included the scientific community reached at several national meetings such as the Livestock Insect Workers Conference and the Entomological Society of America Annual Meeting as well as through publication of research results in scientific journals; commodity groups such as the poultry and dairy reached through presentation at annual workshops such as the California Poultry Federation Workshop and California Dairy Herdsmen Shortcourse as well as publication of short articles in Farm Advisor newsletters or UC ANR publications; and public health agencies reached through presentations at annual meetings and workshops of the Mosquito and Vector Control Association and the California Conference of the Directors of Environmental Health.
Impacts
Research to evaluate fly monitoring methods demonstrated that the use of fly spot cards were effective as a monitoring tool. However, this method of pest monitoring is too time intensive for producers to practice and it was clear that we needed to develop a system that would not over burden producers. With this in mind, I developed the concept of an automated spot card reader linked to a computer program that would provide data analysis and recommendations for control options. This system is currently in development in collaboration with the UCR Computer Science Department and we expect to demonstrate this system at a large dairy operation in summer of 2008 with Dr. Jerry Higginbotham (Farm Advisor, Fresno Co.) My collaboration with faculty at Oklahoma State University has resulted in a finding that flies associated with leafy green production sites located near pastured cattle are carrying pathogenic bacteria. This finding led to the submission of a joint proposal by
the OSU faculty and myself to determine the origination site of these infected flies and to determine if these flies are capable of infecting leafy green vegetables with the pathogenic bacteria that they are carrying.
Publications
- Deacutis, J. M., C. A. Leichter, A. C. Gerry, D. A. Rutz, W. D. Watson, C. J. Geden, and J. G. Scott. 2007. Susceptibility of field collected houseflies to spinosad before and after a season of use. Journal of Agricultural and Urban Entomology. 23(2): 105-110.
- Butler, S. M., A. C. Gerry, and B. A. Mullens. 2007. House fly (Diptera: Muscidae) Activity near Baits Containing (Z)-9-tricosene and Efficacy of Commercial Toxic Fly Baits on a Southern California Dairy. Journal of Economic Entomology. 100(4): 1489-1495.
- Chakrabarti, S., D. J. King, C. Afonso, D. Swayne, C. J. Cardona, D. R. Kuney, and A. C. Gerry. 2007. Detection and Isolation of Exotic Newcastle Disease Virus from Field-Collected Flies. Journal of Medical Entomology. 44(5): 840-844.
- Gerry, A. C., B. A. Mullens, and N. G. Peterson. 2007. Predicting and Controlling Stable Flies on California Dairies. Oakland: University of California, Division of Agriculture and Natural Resources. Publication 8258. pp. 1-11.
- Gerry, A. C. and N. G. Peterson. 2007. Stable Flies and March Rains. Progressive Dairyman Magazine. Progressive Dairyman. March Issue. pp. 1-2.
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