Autodissemination of pyriproxyfen as a method for controlling the house fly Musca domestica

House fly (Musca domestica) control is a major challenge in animal agriculture. Here, we tested the feasibility of applying pyriproxyfen (PPF), an insect-growth regulator that controls house flies effectively, using autodissemination methods, in which the flies themselves deliver PPF to their oviposition sites. First, we tried baiting gravid female flies to walk-through stations, where flies would self-treat with PPF and distribute it. This concept worked well in laboratory and indoor cage experiments, but not in the field, as flies appeared reluctant to alight on and collect PPF. Therefore, we tested adifferent concept of actively coating flies with PPF and then releasing them in different proportions. This concept was tested in laboratory experiments with various manure types in the USA and in Israel. Twenty percent of PPF-coated flies (corresponding to2.3mg/kg PPF) were sufficient to get high control levels (similar to 90%) in most of the tested manure types in the US study. Very similar results were obtained in the experiments in Israel but only with poultry manure, whereas low control levels were obtained when cow manure was used. We conclude that autodissemination of PPF using the collect-treat-release active coating concept may be practical, depending on manure type, and should be further tested in the field.