Thursday, April 30, 2020

Fly Season is Coming! - Stable Flies

Part 1 of "Fly Season is Coming!" (or for many, is here), there could be no other fly worthy of being first than the stable fly. Not only is it the FIRST biting fly to emerge for the year (or if you live in the south, stay active all year) it is also a nasty biter that will take advantage of any bloodmeal it can get.

The stable fly is the most significant pest of livestock in America; because of its painful bite and blood feeding behavior, cattle self-inflict stress and injury trying to escape attack.  The impact of the stable fly is noticeable with populations of more than 20 flies per animal, which can adversely affect animal health and significantly lower income for livestock producers.  Evidence shows that heavy infestations of stable flies on beef cattle have reduced weight gain by 25 percent and, in dairy cattle, have decreased milk production by 10 to 20 percent. 
To suppress stable flies effectively and economically, it is important to:
  • Be able to identify them properly;
  • Understand the insect’s life cycle; and
  • Use a combination of control strategies.

Identification

The stable fly, Stomoxys calcitrans, looks like the house fly, but it is smaller (14 inch). Unlike the house fly, stable fly mouthparts resemble a bayonet that can easily be seen protruding from the head.  The stable fly differs from the housefly in that it depends on blood as food and has an extremely painful bite. Stable flies primarily attack the legs of livestock and the ears of dogs.
An animal’s reaction to being attacked by stable flies consists of objectionable behavior such as stomping and kicking their legs, this makes it difficult to milk dairy cows.  Unrestrained animals will typically bunch together when attack, causing an increase in heat stress.  

Biology and habitat

The stable fly has a complete life cycle with egg, larval (maggot), pupal and adult stages. Populations can increase quickly: Under optimal conditions, the egg to adult cycle is about 3 to 4 weeks; therefore several generations can develop each year.  A female stable fly lives for 3 to 4 weeks and lays 500 to 600 eggs during its lifetime. 
The eggs are typically laid in wet straw, wet hay bales or in other decomposing vegetation mixed with urine and feces produced by the animals.

Management

To suppress stable fly populations efficiently, producers should use an integrated pest management (IPM) approach. IPM relies on three tactics for successful suppression of an insect pest: cultural, biological and chemical. 
Cultural control: Cultural control methods involve manipulating the environment to reduce insect pest populations. The most economical and effective method for suppressing stable fly populations is sanitation.
In confined animal facilities, a top priority should be to eliminate stable fly breeding sites as often as possible. To do this, remove and spread decomposing vegetation or bedding material that has become mixed with urine and feces. Spreading the bedding will allow the material to dry faster and prevent colonization by the stable fly.
Another tactic for confined animal areas is to design the stalls to allow for complete manure removal and drainage. Cleaning out the wet feed remaining in the ends of troughs should be done weekly because the wet feed serves as a breeding site for flies. 
For small to moderate fly populations of adult flies, sticky traps and other mechanical methods, when combined with sanitation, are effective in confined areas. However, sticky traps will not substantially reduce fly numbers if used alone. Sticky traps should be changed weekly because they become coated with dust or “saturated” with flies.
Spreading decomposing vegetation (unused hay) should also be implemented for range or pasture cattle. Throughout the year, hay bales are often provided as supplemental feed for cattle. Over the course of the winter, the sites where hay bales have been placed become ideal stable fly breeding areas. Using hay rings will help to reduce stable fly populations in the field/pasture by reducing the amount of wasted hay trampled into the soil.  Also, moving the feeding site regularly reduces the accumulation of wasted hay at a site and eliminates breeding sites.  Spreading the accumulated wasted hay, will help dry out the site and prevent continual stable fly breeding.
Sticky Traps: The use of sticky traps provides a non-chemical approach to controlling stable flies, both males and females. The sticky traps are attractive to the adult stages as a resting location during bloodmeal digestion but prevent the stable flies from leaving. These traps can be used at any number of facilities but are best placed out of reach of animals. 


                                        Olson Biting Fly Trap           Knight Stick trap

Biological control: This IPM tactic uses natural predators (fire ants), parasites (like the wasp Spalangia sp.) or pathogens (Bacillus thuringiensis) to suppress pests. 
The parasitic wasp, Spalangia sp., is available commercially.  The wasp lays an egg into the pupa of the stable fly. The immature wasp feeds on the pupa, eventually killing the pupa.  The wasp develops into an adult and emerges from the pupa to start the cycle again.  
At this point, there is no clear answer to the effectiveness of using parasites to reduce fly populations.  Chances for success are greatest when coupled with waste and water management, and chemical control as needed.  Chemical controls should be limited to sprays or other application techniques that will not come in contact with breeding sites and kill the parasites.  Wasp releases have to be conducted on a set schedule and are needed each year; do not count on establishing a population on your farm.  Wasps may supplement an integrated program based on sanitation but are unlikely to provide adequate control when numerous breeding sites are available.  
Chemical control:
If a stable fly problem persists, an insecticide can be used. Many compounds are available for suppressing adult and larval stable fly populations. Always read the pesticide label in its entirety before making any applications.  
Animals can be treated as needed with sprays containing permethrin (Catron, GardStar, Permectrin II, Permethrin and Tengard), Ravap® EC (23% tetrachlorvinphos) and Vapona® EC (40.2% dichlorvos).  Residual wall sprays such as Atroban® 11% EC (permethrin), Demon®WP (cypermethrin), Ravap®, and Vapona® can be applied to surfaces where the insects rest. These products can be used in backpack or truck sprayers for range or pasture cattle or used in misters daily on dairy cattle for protection against stable fly feeding.  Brahman and Brahman cross cattle should not be treated due to hypersensitivity to organophosphates.  One day withdrawal is required for beef cattle sprayed with Vapona®.
Many premise products are available (Annihilator®, Atroban® 11% EC, Brute®, Demon® Max, Durashield®, Elector® PSP, GardStar®, Grenade®, Permectrin II, permethrin, Rabon® 50 WP, Ravap® EC, Tengard®, and Vapona®) that can be sprayed around a livestock facility and on side walls that are used as resting sites for fed stable flies.  Always follow product labels for conducting premise spray applications.




Friday, April 24, 2020

Vector CEU Classes in May

Continued social distancing requirements have caused the cancellation of all the in person Spring 2020 Vector CEU classes. But with unprecedented issues come unprecedented steps.  TDA has approved the extension of receiving CEUs for 2020 until December 31, 2020 and has also allowed us to move our CEU classes to web-based.
If you did not have time to attend one of the classes we held in April, we have two more scheduled for May.
  • May 6, 2020 - from 7:30 am to 12:30 pm, 5 hours of AG CEUs, 3 hours of SPCS CEUs, 5 hours of Animal Control CEUs, 5 hours of Registered Sanitarian CEUs and 5 hours of Code Enforcement CEUs
  • May 14, 2020 - from 12:00 pm to 5:00 pm, 5 hours of AG CEUs, 3 hours of SPCS CEUs, 5 hours of Animal Control CEUs, 5 hours of Registered Sanitarian CEUs and 5 hours of Code Enforcement CEUs
ALL must pre-register prior to receiving a link to the class. Registration is available at https://livestockvetento.tamu.edu/workshop-registration/online-class-registration/ and limited to 100 people per class. 

Tuesday, April 21, 2020

Fly Season(s) is Coming!

While sitting here in lockdown and away from livestock, it is easy to forget that fly season is upon us and only going to get worse. Since I do not own livestock of my own at this time, just a Great Dane, cats and baby chicks, our neighbor Jim Bob the horse keeps me informed. 
When you are the size of a small pony, you get your own couch.

There are several different flies that can impact both livestock and humans in Texas, the ones of most concern are biters looking for a blood meal. 

For livestock the most important flies are
  • stable flies (spring until summer)
  • horn flies (spring through fall)
  • horse flies and deer flies (vary throughout the state)
  • house flies (heaviest in the summer but can be year round)
For people the most problematic flies are mosquitoes but stable flies, horse flies, deer flies and house flies can also cause issues. In addition, people who live by flowing streams can see black flies from time to time and people living near maintained deer or sandy soils canhave biting midge issues. 

Over the next few weeks, I will discuss the flies you are seeing now or will see throughout the year that can have an impact on both livestock and people. 

Monday, April 13, 2020

April 16th Web-Based Vector CEU class


There is still plenty of room available to attend the upcoming 5 hrs. web-based CEU class scheduled for April 16th.

If you have time to be on, I would recommend it.  Only the Houston CEU class is a guarantee for this year, and even that may have another date change depending on how COVID-19 goes.

All other classes, if rescheduled, will be done so in late summer and that may not be an optimal time for you to attend.  I will do my best to re-scheduled where we can but have to have speakers as well as a location.



To register for the April 16th online class (7:30 am to 12:30 pm), please go to:

https://livestockvetento.tamu.edu/workshop-registration/online-class-registration/

  • Credit hours are available for pesticide licenses (vector (which is AG) or structural), code enforcement, registered sanitarian and animal control
  • You will received 5 hrs. of credit for all except structural which is 3 hrs.
  • You must stay on for all 5 presentations in order to receive your credit hours.
  • A link to the WebEx event will be emailed out on Wednesday.
If you have any questions, please contact me at slwiger@ag.tamu.edu.

Thank you

Sonja


Friday, April 3, 2020

Vector CEU Classes


Hi All,

Just wanted to reach out to everyone in regards to the CEU classes that were scheduled for March, April & early May.

In compliance with COVID-19 guidelines, all face-to-face meetings were cancelled for March, April and before May 15th.

We at Texas A&M AgriLife Extension have been instructed that the no face-to-face ordinance will be until MAY 4th and recommended that we hold off events until at least May 15th.

That being said, we are working on rescheduling some our events.
We are now adding two online 5 hr CEU classes in place of the cancelled ones. 

IF you need CEUs for TDA (AG & SPCS), Animal Control, Registered Sanitarian and Code Enforcement you MUST stay online for all 5 hrs.

I am looking to run these classes from 7:30 – 12:30 pm.

YOU MUST PRE-REGISTER FOR THE ONLINE CLASSES TO RECEIVE THE LINK.


For all classes please visit https://livestockvetento.tamu.edu/
              ONLINE CLASSES - MUST PRE-REGISTER 
                          April 8th PRE-REGISTER BY MONDAY APR 6TH
                          April 16thPRE-REGISTER BY TUESDAY APR 14TH
              CANCELLED CLASSES
                           March 26 – Rosenberg
                           April 8th – Georgetown
                           May 7th & 8th - El Paso
                           May 12th - Lubbock
                           May 13th - Wichita Falls
              RESCHEDULED CLASSES
                           Tyler – was April 17th, now May 29th
                           Houston – was April 29th, now May 28th
                           San Antonio – was April 27th, now will be in June still working on the date
                           El Paso, Lubbock and Wichita Falls - will try to find another date to conduct these,                                    please check the website for updates.

 **For any classes that were postponed/rescheduled, we will move your registration over automatically. IF you are unable to make the new date, please reach out to us and we will remove you from the list.**
**If the class you registered for was cancelled, you will need to re-register for another**
 
   If you have any questions on classes, please reach out to SLSWIGER@AG.TAMU.EDU





Wednesday, April 1, 2020

How to maintain and get your TDA Pesticide CEUs during COVID19 Lockdown?


One of the many things that is not allowed during the COVID19 lockdown is face-to-face meetings and this includes the many pesticide CEU classes Texas A&M AgriLife Extension provides year round.

Spring is an essential time for Vector Control to achieve their CEU credits before a potentially busy mosquito season.  Luckily TDA has made several adjustments to help everyone out this year.

- Licensed applicators with expiring licenses or needing CEUs will be allowed to renew their license even if they have not met the CEU requirement for their current licensing period through Dec 31, 2020.
- Commercial, Non-Commercial and Non-Commercial Political Applicators:
For licenses expiring in 2020 only: TDA will exempt commercial, non-commercial and non-commercial political applicators who have taken online or correspondence courses within the last year. The TDA Rule 7.24 (t)(2) does not allow for online or correspondence courses to be taken 2 years consecutively. In light of the unusual circumstances due to COVID19, TDA will allow online or correspondence courses to be taken 2 consecutive years. This exemption will be for the current 2020 licensing period.
- Private Applicators:
For licenses expiring 2020 only: The TDA will also exempt private applicators from the TDA Rule 7.24 (v)(5). This rule does not allow a private applicator to acquire more than 10 CEUs through correspondence courses. During this quarantine time frame, private applicators will be allowed to acquire ALL of their CEUs through correspondence courses (online).
-Testing :
All testing is suspended at this time. PSI has indicated that they will cease operations until at least April 13, 2020.
-Vector CEU courses moving online
Please stay tuned! I will be offering our Vector CEU course online April 8th and April 16th! Please sign up at https://livestockvetento.tamu.edu/workshop-registration/ 



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