Efficacy of In Vitro Lithium Chloride Treatments on <i>Dermacentor reticulatus</i>

<i>Dermacentor reticulatus</i> (Fabr., 1794) (Acari: Ixodidae) is parasite that spreads many diseases which are dangerous to humans and animals. Microelement lithium was found to have promising potential against the detrimental bee pest <i>Varroa destructor.</i> Furthermore,...

Full description

Bibliographic Details
Main Authors: Balázs Kolics, Kinga Mátyás, Izabella Solti, Zsuzsanna Bacsi, Szilvia Kovács, András Specziár, János Taller, Éva Kolics
Format: Article
Language:English
Published: MDPI AG 2023-01-01
Series:Insects
Subjects:
Online Access:https://www.mdpi.com/2075-4450/14/2/110
Description
Summary:<i>Dermacentor reticulatus</i> (Fabr., 1794) (Acari: Ixodidae) is parasite that spreads many diseases which are dangerous to humans and animals. Microelement lithium was found to have promising potential against the detrimental bee pest <i>Varroa destructor.</i> Furthermore, its effectiveness was confirmed against <i>Dermanyssus gallinae,</i> a major parasite of poultry, in vitro. In the present study, we investigated whether the efficacy of lithium chloride extends to other parasitic species, such as <i>D. reticulatus</i>. Our results revealed, for the first time, that the effectiveness of lithium chloride extends to <i>D. reticulatus</i>, confirmed to have 100% mortality at a relatively high minimum concentration of 1.38 M in vitro. The 24 h and 48 h median lethal concentration (LC<sub>50</sub>) values proved to be 0.654 M and 0.481 M, respectively, for this species. Our pilot study may contribute to a better understanding of the properties of lithium ion. Furthermore, it may elicit further studies aiming to reveal whether the different environmental mineral conditions may influence the <i>D. reticulatus</i> population. Further studies might reveal whether lithium has any possible veterinary relevance.
ISSN:2075-4450