THE IMPORTANCE OF THE LOCUS OF APPLICATION ON THE EFFECTIVENESS OF DDT FOR THE HOUSE FLY, MUSCA DOMESTICA L. (DIPTERA: MUSCIDAE)

Abstract

DDT-benzene droplets, 1.5 ml. and up, produced by a 0.25 ml. syringe combined with a microfine glass tube and a rocking microtome (to regulate the plunger movement) were collected, evaporated on water, and applied as saturated droplets or crystalline masses to 16 different areas of the integument of adult Musca domestica L. males harmlessly immobilized in cellulose tape holders.Crystalline DDT on the pulvilli of one leg or injected into muscle was ineffective. DDT in benzene was more effective than crystalline DDT. Effectiveness increased as loci of application approached the body or head; was enhanced by pulsatile membranes beneath loci; was greatest and most rapid when the labella were treated; was increased as the area of intact integument surrounding the locus was increased; but was not enhanced by additional cuticular waxes in the benzene solvent.