Development of a Poisoned Bait Strategy against the Silverfish <i>Ctenolepisma longicaudata</i> (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 <i>Ctenolepisma longi...

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Bibliographic Details
Main Authors: Anders Aak, Morten Hage, Heidi Heggen Lindstedt, Bjørn Arne Rukke
Format: Article
Language:English
Published: MDPI AG 2020-12-01
Series:Insects
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Online Access:https://www.mdpi.com/2075-4450/11/12/852
Description
Summary: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 <i>Ctenolepisma longicaudata</i> (Escherich, 1905) and two of its relatives, <i>Lepisma saccharina</i> (Linnaeus, 1758) and <i>Ctenolepisma calva</i> (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 m<sup>2</sup>, was a cost-efficient and safe strategy for the knockdown and eradication of <i>C. longicaudata</i>. During field experiments, the demography changed from an initial mixture of different 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 <i>C. longicaudata</i> in apartments. Different droplet densities (1 vs. 0.5/m<sup>2</sup>) 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 <i>C. longicaudata</i> and potentially against other silverfish infestations.
ISSN:2075-4450