US researchers hope to swat house fly populations in poultry houses
Researchers are investigating biological control agents in an effort to decrease house fly populations.
6 November 2020
3 minute read
By: US Poultry and the US Poultry Foundation announce the completion of a funded research project at Pennsylvania State University in which researchers investigated using biological control agents to decrease house fly populations. The research was made possible in part by an endowing Foundation gift from MPS Egg Farms and is part of the Association’s comprehensive research program encompassing all phases of poultry and egg production and processing.
A brief summary of the completed project is shown below. A complete report, along with information on other Association research, may be obtained through US Poultry's website. The project summary is as follows.
Project #F077: Improved fly control on poultry facilities with microbial products
(Dr Erika Machtinger, Department of Entomology, Pennsylvania State University, University Park, Pennsylvania)
Dr Erika Machtinger and colleagues recently completed a research project that evaluated the use of biological control agents to decrease house fly populations. Parasitoid wasps and the entomopathogenic fungi Beauveria bassiana were both examined to see if augmentative releases of these antagonists and introduction of pathogenic organisms can help lower house fly populations to manageable levels.
