Field and laboratory efficacy studies of erythrosin B for Musca domestica (Diptera: Muscidae) and Drosophila robusta (Diptera: Drosophilidae) control

A 1.0% liquid bait formulation of erythrosin B was tested for house fly, Musca domestica L., control in one room of an environmentally controlled caged-layer poultry facility. Reduced fly numbers were recorded between day 14 and day 17 in the room treated with erythrosin B, after 17 d populations increased significantly in treatment and control rooms. Increasing the light intensity to 188 or 386 lm/m2 for 8 h a day or increasing bait stations from one station per 87 m3 to one station per 70 m3 had no effect on developing house fly populations. Annoying levels of a vinegar fly, Drosophila robusta group, developed in the poultry facility during the study. Populations increased to greater than 400 adults/m2 of wall surface by day 15, then declined in the treatment room to less than 1 adult/m2 by day 33. Mortality of house flies that had ingested a 1.0% liquid formulation of erythrosin B was recorded under laboratory light intensities of 51, 532, and 1,030 lm/m2. All three intensities resulted in mortality significantly higher than the control, but mortality among the light intensity treatments did not differ significantly. When house flies were supplied water with erythrosin B, mortality did not differ significantly from that of the control