Abstract
The poultry red mite, Dermanyssus gallinae (De Geer) is a serious ectoparasitic pest of layer hens that can survive for long periods in the poultry house sub-structure without taking a blood meal from its host. The research undertaken in this study found that 'time since last blood meal' had a notable effect on how toxic a selection of plant essential oils were to D. gallinae under laboratory conditions. In general, the essential oils had a greater toxic effect on D. gallinae if mites had been starved of a blood meal for around 3 weeks, than if they had been more recently fed 3-13 days prior to tests. This result was consistent across the four essential oils used (thyme, palmarosa, caraway and juniper leaf). This suggests that plant essential oils may be of use in management schemes for D. gallinae, particularly if used to sanitise houses between flocks, when mites will have been starved.
| Original language | English |
|---|---|
| Pages (from-to) | 333-335 |
| Number of pages | 3 |
| Journal | Veterinary Parasitology |
| Volume | 155 |
| Issue number | 3-4 |
| DOIs | |
| Publication status | Published - 17 Aug 2008 |
| Externally published | Yes |
Funding
This study was funded by Newcastle University's (UK) Vacation Scholarship scheme and formed part of a larger Defra (UK) funded study called MITEeHEN being undertaken at Newcastle University investigating the use of plant-derived products for management of D. gallinae . The authors gratefully acknowledge statistical assistance provided by Dr. Robert Shiel (Newcastle University, UK).
Keywords
- Dermanyssus gallinae
- Diet
- Essential oil
- Toxicity
ASJC Scopus subject areas
- Animal Science and Zoology
- Parasitology
- General Veterinary
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