Studies to evaluate the effectiveness of sex pheromone-impregnated formulations for control of populations of the American dog tick, Dermacentor variabilis (Say) (Acari: Ixodidae).

The sex pheromone, 2,6-dichlorophenol, was combined with a pesticide to control populations of the American dog tick, Dermacentor variabilis (Say). This pheromone persisted in the fur of treated dogs for at least 18 days. The mixture of pheromone and pesticide was much more effective in reducing mating among the surviving ticks than the treatments without pheromone. The pheromone-pesticide mixture also killed significantly more ticks than the treatment without pheromone. This increased effectiveness was due almost entirely to the significantly greater kill of male ticks. Combining the sex pheromone with pesticide treatments offers a means of suppressing tick populations by curtailing their mating and subsequent reproductive success. The potential applications of this technique and the benefits to be expected are discussed.