Effects of different anti-juvenile hormone agents on the fecundity of the female tick Ornithodoros moubata

Abstract Eight different compounds which have been reported to have anti-juvenile hormone effects in some insects were applied topically to mated Ornithodoros moubata females 1 day after feeding. Five hundred micrograms of ethoxy-precocene (P3), piperonyl-butoxyde (PB), ETB, or KK-42 induced a rapid death of the females. One hundred micrograms of the same compounds and of the precocene analogs FC1, FC2, and FC3 prevented oviposition of mature eggs in a few females but did not modify either preoviposition period or egg yield in the others. On the contrary, 100 μg of fluoromevalonate (FMev) inhibited oviposition in most of the treated females. The ovary showed signs of vitellus resorption (as normally observed in fed virgin females). The egg yield was reduced in the ovipositing females. A treatment with 50 μg of the juvenile hormone analogue ZR 515 did not prevent oosorption and restore oviposition.