Biological Fly Control in Poultry Houses using the Predaceous Beetle, (Carcinops pumilio)

Poultry producers are faced with growing difficulties in controlling pests associated with poultry manure, particularly house flies. Expanding urbanization and public concern about flies associated with poultry facilities lead to confrontation or litigation. Producers have few chemically based options available for fly control because of insecticide resistance and loss of insecticides to regulatory concerns. Proven biological and cultural control options provide alternatives to the use of insecticides and support existing natural enemies of the house fly. This project is designed to provide producers with a renewable fly control option using an important natural enemy of flies associates with poultry houses. The hister beetle, Carcinops pumilio, is a significant predator of fly eggs and larvae that occurs in large populations in well established poultry houses. However, to avoid Salmonella outbreaks, poultry producers routinely fumigate houses between flocks. This process destroys the beetle population which are then difficult to re-establish under natural conditions. In contrast, the fly population re-establishes quickly usually resulting in a fly outbreak. Producers could avoid fly outbreaks by artificially establishing a predatory beetle population in the poultry house before house flies become established.