The Treadle Sprayer and the Cable-Type Back Rubber for Control of Biting Flies on Cattle in Pennsylvania1

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Abstract
The effectiveness of various insecticide-repellent formulations applied by means of self-treating devices for the control of the horn fly, Siphona irritans (L.), and the stable fly, Stomoxys calcitrans (L.), on Cattle under Pennsylvania conditions was tested during 1955 and 1956. A spray containing 50% butoxy polypropylene glycol and 5% methoxychlor in methylated naphthalenes was tested during 1955 with a treadle sprayer and a cable-type back rubber. With the treadle sprayer, an average of 90.0% control of the horn fly and 34.7% control of the stable fly resulted when one round-trip application was made daily. Because of the excitement and nervousness caused among the animals, approximately one-third of the animals going through the sprayer received only partial treatment or none at all. The back rubber installed in a small pasture with a few trees accomplished almost perfect control of the horn fly, but less satisfactory control of the stable fly. A significant decrease in effectiveness was noted when the back rubber was located in a pasture with numerous dead trunks and branches, but no decrease was observed in wooded pastures devoid of dead trunks and branches. Studies of the residual effect showed that control of the horn fly throughout a post-treatment period of 25 days varied from 52.5 to 99.7%. The residual effect against the stable fly lasted for only 15 days, control varying from 33.0 to 54.4%. In 1956, units of the portable model of the rubbing device, treated with four insecticide-repellent formulations including butoxy polypropylene glycol, methoxychlor, Lethane 384 and synergized pyrethrins, were installed indoors in a basement barn, and in three pastures of different sizes and with different numbers of trees, but relatively free of dead trunks or stumps. All formulations provided effective and consistent control of the horn fly. No significant difference in control was found among the four formulations tested under the different conditions. It was noted that 5% methoxychlor in diesel oil provided excellent control of the horn fly and that the addition of butoxy polypropylene glycol did not significantly enhance the effectiveness of methoxychlor. None of the four formulations tested provided satisfactory control of the stable fly and there was considerable variation in the effectiveness of each formulation. None of the materials tested on the back rubber had any apparent adverse effects on the animals used in the experiments.