An arsenic-resistant tick and its control with gammexane dips

During the past 30 years, at least seven species of injurious insects are known to have evolved strains that are more difficult to kill with recognised chemical insecticides than are the normal populations of these pests.

In 1939 it was reported from the East London area that farmers were experiencing difficulty in controlling the one host blue tick, B. decoloratus, by regular dipping in the recognised 7-day strength arsenical wash. Field observations confirmed this.

A technique for treating ticks in the laboratory is discussed in detail. This technique has been put to exhaustive test and some 15,000 adult female blue ticks have been subjected to in vitro treatments with remarkably consistent results.

Experiments are discussed that suggest that arsenic kills ticks by contact. It is further claimed that by using the technique described it has been possible to furnish proof that an arsenic-resistant strain of B. decoloratus does exist in South Africa. It would seem that when once the arsenic-resistant tick has established itself on any farm, the continued dipping of cattle in arsenical washes results in an unintentional artificial selection of those varieties within the tick population that are resistant to arsenic. Continued dippings in arsenic thus aggravate the position and some insecticide other than arsenic should be used to combat this arsenic-resistant strain of B. decoloratus.

Gammexane was experimented with and it is shown that 0·005 per cent. is sufficient to kill adult females of the arsenic-resistant tick and could be taken as a basis for further experiments. Oil base preparations and water suspensions of Gammexane are twenty times more toxic to the tick than are dust preparations.