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The Use of “Tail-Pedometers” to Evaluate the Impact of Dipterans in Feeder Cattle

SIMPLE SUMMARY: Hematophagous flies are a pest for livestock due to their bites, annoyance and the diseases they transmit. Cattle exposed to biting flies exhibit defence movements such as tail flicks. The evaluation of biting fly density and annoyance by counting tail flicks of cattle has been valid...

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Autores principales: Desquesnes, Marc, Thaisungnoen, Kornkanok, Chalermwong, Piangjai, Nevot, Adèle, Fossaert, Clément, Lucas, Antoine, Onju, Sathaporn, Boonsaen, Phoompong, Jittapalapong, Sathaporn
Formato: Online Artículo Texto
Lenguaje:English
Publicado: MDPI 2022
Materias:
Acceso en línea:https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC9320480/
https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/35886792
http://dx.doi.org/10.3390/insects13070616
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author Desquesnes, Marc
Thaisungnoen, Kornkanok
Chalermwong, Piangjai
Nevot, Adèle
Fossaert, Clément
Lucas, Antoine
Onju, Sathaporn
Boonsaen, Phoompong
Jittapalapong, Sathaporn
author_facet Desquesnes, Marc
Thaisungnoen, Kornkanok
Chalermwong, Piangjai
Nevot, Adèle
Fossaert, Clément
Lucas, Antoine
Onju, Sathaporn
Boonsaen, Phoompong
Jittapalapong, Sathaporn
author_sort Desquesnes, Marc
collection PubMed
description SIMPLE SUMMARY: Hematophagous flies are a pest for livestock due to their bites, annoyance and the diseases they transmit. Cattle exposed to biting flies exhibit defence movements such as tail flicks. The evaluation of biting fly density and annoyance by counting tail flicks of cattle has been validated in the past, but it is highly time consuming. In this study, we evaluated the use of sport pedometers attached to the tails of feeder cattle, in order to evaluate tails flick frequency in two groups of six feeder cattle: Group A was protected by a mosquito net, and Group B was in open-air. Tail flicks were also recorded visually. In addition, insect density was evaluated using three fly traps in the surrounding of Group B. A strong correlation was observed between fly density and visual records of tail flicks; a stronger correlation was found between fly density and tail pedometer records. The reports of tail flicks at night were even able to draw attention to a huge infestation by mosquitoes. Finally, in these experimental conditions, tail pedometers proved to be useful tools in evaluating density and the impact of dipterans on cattle behaviour. They will be useful tools to evaluate new biting fly control methods. ABSTRACT: Hematophagous flies are a pest for livestock; their direct impact reduces productivity, and they are vectors of parasites, bacteria and viruses. Their control using insecticides is inefficient and highly polluting. The validation of new control tools requires efficacy and cost-effectiveness evaluation. The quantification of hematophagous insects’ impact in livestock is a challenging prerequisite. Tail flicks counts can reliably evaluate fly-burden; however, visual records are tedious and time-consuming. In the present study, automation of tail flick counts was made through the use of pedometers attached to the tail, in two groups of feeder cattle. Group A was kept in a pen under the protection of a mosquito net, and Group B was kept in an open-air pen. The fly density of Group B was evaluated using fly traps. The apparent density per trap ranged from 130 to 1700 in the study. The mean pedometer records per 24 h ranged from 957+/−58 bits in Group A to 11,138+/−705 bits in Group B. The night/day records observed in Group A (200/800 bits) were drastically increased in Group B (1000–4000/4000–14,000 bits) and variable along seasons. A very high correlation was observed between fly density and visual records or pedometer records (PR). Two-hour PRs proved to be a reliable predictive tool for fly density. Moreover, the pedometers revealed an unsuspected but significant nuisance of mosquitoes, which should be thoroughly investigated.
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spelling pubmed-93204802022-07-27 The Use of “Tail-Pedometers” to Evaluate the Impact of Dipterans in Feeder Cattle Desquesnes, Marc Thaisungnoen, Kornkanok Chalermwong, Piangjai Nevot, Adèle Fossaert, Clément Lucas, Antoine Onju, Sathaporn Boonsaen, Phoompong Jittapalapong, Sathaporn Insects Article SIMPLE SUMMARY: Hematophagous flies are a pest for livestock due to their bites, annoyance and the diseases they transmit. Cattle exposed to biting flies exhibit defence movements such as tail flicks. The evaluation of biting fly density and annoyance by counting tail flicks of cattle has been validated in the past, but it is highly time consuming. In this study, we evaluated the use of sport pedometers attached to the tails of feeder cattle, in order to evaluate tails flick frequency in two groups of six feeder cattle: Group A was protected by a mosquito net, and Group B was in open-air. Tail flicks were also recorded visually. In addition, insect density was evaluated using three fly traps in the surrounding of Group B. A strong correlation was observed between fly density and visual records of tail flicks; a stronger correlation was found between fly density and tail pedometer records. The reports of tail flicks at night were even able to draw attention to a huge infestation by mosquitoes. Finally, in these experimental conditions, tail pedometers proved to be useful tools in evaluating density and the impact of dipterans on cattle behaviour. They will be useful tools to evaluate new biting fly control methods. ABSTRACT: Hematophagous flies are a pest for livestock; their direct impact reduces productivity, and they are vectors of parasites, bacteria and viruses. Their control using insecticides is inefficient and highly polluting. The validation of new control tools requires efficacy and cost-effectiveness evaluation. The quantification of hematophagous insects’ impact in livestock is a challenging prerequisite. Tail flicks counts can reliably evaluate fly-burden; however, visual records are tedious and time-consuming. In the present study, automation of tail flick counts was made through the use of pedometers attached to the tail, in two groups of feeder cattle. Group A was kept in a pen under the protection of a mosquito net, and Group B was kept in an open-air pen. The fly density of Group B was evaluated using fly traps. The apparent density per trap ranged from 130 to 1700 in the study. The mean pedometer records per 24 h ranged from 957+/−58 bits in Group A to 11,138+/−705 bits in Group B. The night/day records observed in Group A (200/800 bits) were drastically increased in Group B (1000–4000/4000–14,000 bits) and variable along seasons. A very high correlation was observed between fly density and visual records or pedometer records (PR). Two-hour PRs proved to be a reliable predictive tool for fly density. Moreover, the pedometers revealed an unsuspected but significant nuisance of mosquitoes, which should be thoroughly investigated. MDPI 2022-07-08 /pmc/articles/PMC9320480/ /pubmed/35886792 http://dx.doi.org/10.3390/insects13070616 Text en © 2022 by the authors. https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/Licensee MDPI, Basel, Switzerland. This article is an open access article distributed under the terms and conditions of the Creative Commons Attribution (CC BY) license (https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/).
spellingShingle Article
Desquesnes, Marc
Thaisungnoen, Kornkanok
Chalermwong, Piangjai
Nevot, Adèle
Fossaert, Clément
Lucas, Antoine
Onju, Sathaporn
Boonsaen, Phoompong
Jittapalapong, Sathaporn
The Use of “Tail-Pedometers” to Evaluate the Impact of Dipterans in Feeder Cattle
title The Use of “Tail-Pedometers” to Evaluate the Impact of Dipterans in Feeder Cattle
title_full The Use of “Tail-Pedometers” to Evaluate the Impact of Dipterans in Feeder Cattle
title_fullStr The Use of “Tail-Pedometers” to Evaluate the Impact of Dipterans in Feeder Cattle
title_full_unstemmed The Use of “Tail-Pedometers” to Evaluate the Impact of Dipterans in Feeder Cattle
title_short The Use of “Tail-Pedometers” to Evaluate the Impact of Dipterans in Feeder Cattle
title_sort use of “tail-pedometers” to evaluate the impact of dipterans in feeder cattle
topic Article
url https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC9320480/
https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/35886792
http://dx.doi.org/10.3390/insects13070616
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