The Development of a Water-Jacketed Membrane Feeder Repellent Testing System for Black Flies (Diptera: Simuliidae)

An in vitro repellent testing system for use with colony reared black flies, Simulium vittatum , is described. Postoviposition female S. vittatum were exposed to latex membranes treated with 15 μl of commercially available insect repellents every 2 h, up to 12 h. Repellents tested were the following: Repel® Plant-Based Lemon Eucalyptus Insect Repellent 2 (30% oil of lemon eucalyptus [OLE]); OFF!® Botanicals Insect Repellent IV (10% p -menthane-3,8-diol [PMD]); and Zevo™ On-Body (20% 3-[ N -butyl- N -acetyl]-aminopropionic acid, ethyl ester, IR3535®). Untreated membranes served as control. The PMD and IR3535 had negative correlations between repellency rate and time (IR3535, m (slopes of mean repellencies over time) = −6.64; and PMD, m = −5.28), whereas OLE had none (m = 0). Statistical analysis demonstrated significance within all groups that included OLE or the control ( P < 0.00), but none for groups consisting of PMD or IR3535 ( P = 0.31).