Kaufman Lab

Texas A&M Department of Entomology

tjchapman

Stable Fly Colony

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What We Do

The stable fly, Stomoxys calcitrans, is a species of fly in the family Muscidae.  Stable flies are blood feeding insects which use their long mouthparts to pierce the skin of their host and take a blood meal.  They are a serious pest of livestock, particularly cattle and horses.  These flies can cause discomfort to animals while feeding and are known to be vectors of disease.

The Kaufman Laboratory maintains six separate colonies of stable flies.  These vary in original collection location and insecticide resistance status.  All six colonies were established in Florida and were shipped to Texas A&M University in 2020 shortly after Dr. Kaufman’s arrival as the head of the Entomology Department.  These flies have been maintained in lab for generations, most for well over a decade.  There is also an ongoing effort to establish a local colony of Texas stable flies.

Our stable flies need daily care, which requires a thorough knowledge of their developmental stages, food and oviposition preferences.  The colonies are managed by our Ph.D. student Lauren Beebe, and are also maintained by our research assistant Isaac Perez, research worker Travis Anderson, and undergraduates, Megan Bindseil, Audrey Redning, Kierra Kennedy, Fayth Rojas and Macy Strain.

Stable fly pupae
A cage used to rear stable flies

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Burrow-Dwelling Soft Tick Project

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About the Project

The Search for ticks in burrows of wild animals in Texas

Background

Soft ticks (Family: Argasidae) are vectors of relapsing fever Borrelia in the United States, and potential vectors of African Swine Fever virus, a pathogen that could have a devastating effect on the U.S. swine industry if introduced to the U.S. mainland. One of the current projects undertaken by the Kaufman lab aims to improve our knowledge of the host use and ecology of soft ticks in south Texas.

To this end, CO2-baited sticky traps are deployed in animal burrows, culverts, and other cracks, crevasses, and sheltered areas that may provide refuge for soft ticks. Collected tick samples are subjected to blood-meal analysis and pathogen screening to determine what host species they have fed upon and if they are associated with pathogens that may be of concern for human and animal health.

This research will help to improve our knowledge of the range of soft tick species present in south Texas and the ecological relationships between soft ticks and their hosts. This will aid efforts to identify and mitigate tick-borne disease risks to both humans and domestic animals in south Texas while providing valuable information on the relationships between these ticks, native and exotic wildlife, and livestock.

Brown Dog Tick Project

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The project consists of three inter-related objectives

  1. Characterize the level and frequency of permethrin resistance.
  2. Identify canine, bovine, and human pathogens from field-collected ticks.
  3. Determine the genetic lineages of brown dog ticks collected in Texas and southern states.

In the past, Rhipicephalus sanguineus was considered a single cosmopolitan species. More recently, however, the tick was characterized as a species complex, with a vague distribution of these possible species and an increased likeliness that not all species complex members are capable of specific pathogen transmission.

Acaricide resistance has been recognized and described recently, with a basic understanding of which lineages were associated with resistance expression. Additionally, R. sanguineus is characterized as having a strong feeding preference toward canines, yet this tick has been discovered feeding on humans and cattle. This preference could suggest a host-range expansion, or more likely is an indication that multiple species are present in the US and potentially elsewhere in the world.

This project aims to determine whether brown dog ticks harbor pathogens, if they are acaricide resistant, and if both of these characteristics are associated with lineage. By doing this, we can better address the expansion of tick-borne diseases, develop better treatment and prevention methods, and ultimately protect humans, companion animals, and livestock.

We are in need of brown dog ticks to study for our project!
If you would be interested in collecting brown dog ticks and shipping them to us, email us!

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