Bhushy Thind

• Researcher at Thind Ltd

This paper reports the results of a seminar on poultry red mite (PRM), Dermanyssus gallinae. Eighteen researchers from eight European countries discussed life cycle issues of the mite, effects of mites on hens and egg production, and monitoring and control methods for PRM in poultry facilities. It was determined that PRM probably causes more damage...

This systematic review considers the relationship between arthropods commonly found in and around livestock premises and zoonotic bacteria. The principal focus is upon insects and arachnids on poultry units, where houses, litter and manure provide good conditions for the growth, multiplication and protection of flies, beetles and mites, and where z...

This paper describes the development of rapid immunodiagnostic tests for the detection of storage mite infestations in cereals and cereal products. The study's first phase (proof of concept) involved the production of a species-specific enzyme-linked immunoassay (ELISA) for the flour mite, Acarus siro (L.), a major pest of stored commodities. The s...

Feeding and maintaining sheep scab mites off-host is an important step towards achieving a safer, environmentally-friendly means of controlling sheep scab disease. The test arena developed by Thind and Muggleton (Exp Appl Acarol 22:543-552, 1998) has been adapted for feeding and maintaining Psoroptes ovis off-host. The test arenas are simple to con...

As part of a research programme designed to identify biological agents for the control of sheep scab, the pathogenicity of the fungus Metarhizium anisopliae to Psoroptes mites in the presence of sheepskin and wool was examined in the laboratory. No inhibitory effects of skin and wool were observed and high levels of infection were recorded. Subsequ...

A previously described bioassay was modified to assess the response of the poultry red mite, an important ectoparasite of fowl, to a selected group of acaricides. The adapted bioassay is simple to use, escape-proof and provides data that can be subjected to probit analysis. The reproducibility of the method was assessed by three tests with alpha-cy...

Residual populations of storage mites sheltering in crevices and cracks escape conventional control treatments and are implicated in the infestation of newly harvested grain. In a series of 24 h laboratory tests, the performance of solitary adults of two predatory mite species, Cheyletus eruditus (Schrank) and Blattisocius tarsalis (Berlese), were...

Two types of trap, the BT Trap and PC(TM) pitfall cone trap, were evaluated against the most widely used method of sampling and sieving for their ability to detect low numbers of storage mites (Acarus siro, Tyrophagus longior and Lepidoglyphus destructor) in bulk oilseed rape, under UK maritime conditions. In addition, a synthetic lure (2-nonanone)...

Storage mites are important primary pests but present methods for trapping them are either rudimentary or have several limitations. These prevent effective early detection or reliable monitoring of mites in the food, animal feed and associated industries. The BT Trap is the first trap designed specifically for the detection and monitoring of mite i...

The availability of large numbers of undamaged sheep scab mites, Psoroptes ovis, would be beneficial for discovery screening and development trials. There are several reported procedures for removing scab mites from sheep but they have limitations. To overcome this, a simple but versatile method employing the use of pumped saline was developed to r...

Mite allergy sufferers could benefit from an accurate cheap and reliable method for quantifying mites in all types of environment so that appropriate remedial action can be taken. The performance of a previously described flotation method used for the detection of mites present in food and feed samples was assessed. This method could analyse a wide...

These proceedings contain nearly 200 keynote, oral and poster papers and contributions highlighting the work on the pests and diseases that cause spoilage, adverse health effects and crop losses after harvest, and discussing new techniques for safe, effective and environmentally friendly management of stored commodities. The contents cover the futu...

The study forms the first part of the development of an immunoassay to detect storage mite infestations in cereals and their derived products. This was achieved by examining the suitability of an existing monoclonal antibody (MAb) raised against the cosmopolitan food mite, Lepidoglyphus destructor (Schrank). The results demonstrate that in the abse...

Aeration is a promising alternative to the use of pesticides for the control of storage insects by cooling bulk grain, but its effectiveness against mite pests is neither fully understood nor optimised. For this reason, the productivity of three species of storage mites, Acarus siro, Lepidoglyphus destructor and Tyrophagus longior, was studied in a...

Seven categories of cereal-based food products purchased at food retail outlets in UK were examined for the presence of mites by analysing 20 g samples using a flotation method. Mites were found in 21% of 571 samples, which were examined soon after purchase, and in 38% of 421 samples, derived from the 571 samples which were examined after 6 weeks o...

The response to pirimiphos-methyl, in one strain of Acarus farris and two strains of Acarus siro, was assessed using an impregnated filter paper bioassay and by the selection of adults following exposure to pirimiphos-methyl. It was concluded that one of the strains of A. siro was resistant to pirimiphos-methyl and that a major resistance mechanism...

Extraneous material was separated from feed and food products by a modified technique in which kerosene is used in a specially designed flotation flask. This technique, although effective for analyzing feed and foods, presented limitations in the analysis of finely powdered materials. Some procedural modifications and an increased in the capacity o...

The prevalence and severity of allergic diseases such as asthma, rhinitis and eczema in the developed world are increasing, resulting in greater focus on the causative agents. The majority of cases involve sensitivity to allergens from arthropods. Storage mites are recognised as a source of allergens by inhalation in certain occupational environ-me...

The majority of bioassay methods used for determining the susceptibility of the flour mite Acarus siro L. to pesticides provide data which are difficult to assess. In this new method, the mites are confined on treated, moulded filter papers held in position by two glass sheets to form an escape-proof exposure chamber. The method is simple and uses...

The insect juvenile-hormone analogue fenoxycarb (ethyl [2-(phenoxyphenoxy) ethyl] carbamate) has been shown to stimulate egg production in the flour miteAcarus siro L. Incorporation of fenoxycarb into mite food at 10 mg kg-1 and 100 mg kg-1 increased egg production by 43% and 99%, respectively. In addition, total mite populations were significantly...

The juvenile hormone analogue fenozycarb, (ethyl[2-(phenoxy-phenoxy)ethyl] carbamate) was evaluated against a number of insecticide-susceptible and resistant strains of stored-product insects. The order of susceptibility to the compound was Triboliumcastaneum >Cryptolestesferrugineus >Oryzaephilussurinamensis >Rhyzoperthadominica. A malathion-speci...

Samples of pig feed, infested to various known amounts with Acarus siro L., were scanned using an NIR analyser. Visual inspection of the spectra of infested feed did not indicate the presence of mites, but principal components derived from these spectra were correlated with the number of mites. Examination of the spectrum of Ringer solution, and of...

Separate populations of two species, Acarus siro L. and Glycyphagus destructor (Schrank), were used to inoculate grain with a known number of mites. Regardless of differences in species and original levels of infestation, recovery by oil flotation was never less than 75%, whereas that by sieving never exceeded 43% of true mite population. Moreover,...

Modifications are described to a previously published technique for quantitative determination of mite populations in animal feedingstuffs. In the modified method, the oil phase is kerosene instead of a mixture of kerosene and tetralin (1 + 1), and aqueous industrial methylated spirit is substituted for aqueous ethanol in the aqueous phase. Emulsio...

Sitophilus oryzae (L.) is a pest of stored grain, hut most strains tested so far fail to breed on yellow split-peas (Pisum sativum) and these can be used in admixture to protect other grains from infestation by the weevil. However, seven strains of S. oryzae have been found to breed on yellow split-peas, and the inheritance of this ability was inve...

Samples are preheated in 25% aqueous ethanol at 65 degrees C for 5 min. A specially designed flotation flask and solvent mixture of kerosene-tetralin (1+1) is used to form an interface with 25% aqueous ethanol. Mites, insects, and insect fragments are separated from vegetative material by an overflow method. Trials incorporating a known number of m...