Insecticidal gel bait for the decimation of Ctenolepisma longicaudatum (Zygentoma: Lepismatidae) populations in libraries, museums, and archives

The problem of bristletail Ctenolepisma longicaudatum (Zygentoma: Lepismatidae) in libraries, archives, and museums is increasing. It can cause damage to valuable and irreplaceable objects. We describe the effect of the use of insecticidal gel bait (active ingredient: indoxacarb) against C. longicaudatum populations in three libraries, seven archives, and seven museums in Norway and Austria. Pest activity was monitored with sticky traps to evaluate the effect of bait application. Significant declines in pest populations were observed at all locations when small bait droplets were applied either systematically throughout the buildings or strategically close to suspected aggregations. In addition, bait was successfully used to prevent infestation in a new museum building. The cost of treatment, measured by the amount of bait and work hours spent, was low, and bait application was conducted by either the professional pest control technicians or the local integrated pest management (IPM) manager. The use of insecticidal gel bait and its secondary effects is a cost-efficient alternative for population decimation; moreover, the method has a low probability of negative health issues for employees at the treated localities or damage to the objects. The application of bait is discussed in relation to its alignment with other IPM methods in libraries, archives, and museums

Head Lice in Norwegian Households: Actions Taken, Costs and Knowledge

Introduction: Head lice infestations cause distress in many families. A well-founded strategy to reduce head lice prevalence must shorten the infectious period of individual hosts. To develop such a strategy, information about the actions taken (inspection, treatment and informing others about own infestations), level of knowledge and costs is needed. The present study is the first to consider all these elements combined. Materials and Methods: A questionnaire was answered by 6203 households from five geographically separate

Development of a Poisoned Bait Strategy against the Silverfish Ctenolepisma longicaudata (Escherich, 1905)

Pest management strives to be an efficient, yet healthy and environmentally safe control method, and the use of poisoned bait often fulfils these criteria. In the present study, we show that bait with indoxacarb as the active ingredient is highly efficient for controlling Ctenolepisma longicaudata (Escherich, 1905) and two of its relatives, Lepisma saccharina (Linnaeus, 1758) and Ctenolepisma calva (Ritter, 1910). Applying small bait droplets (size ~10 mg) along the walls of several types of buildings, at no more than 0.5 to 1.0 g bait per 100 m2, was a cost-efficient and safe strategy for the knockdown and eradication of C. longicaudata. During field experiments, the demography changed from an initial mixture of diffierent stages to total dominance of early instars preceding the population collapse. Poisonous bait outcompeted mass-trapping with sticky-traps and conventional insect spray treatment for the efficient control of C. longicaudata in apartments. Different droplet densities (1 vs. 0.5/m2) and active ingredients (indoxacarb vs. clothianidin) did not have different effects in field experiments. These results show that poisoned bait is a highly relevant tool for managing C. longicaudata and potentially against other silverfish infestations