AUTOMATIC SPRAYER 



for Control of Biting Flies on Cattle 



WILLIS N. BRUCE, Associate Entomologist, Natural History Survey Division 



Biting flies are important pests of cattle, hogs, and other animals in all the 

 counties of Illinois. By their biting and blood -sucking, they torment the animals 

 and reduce the profits of owners. 



Cattle attacked by biting flies do not graze quietly as they should, but switch7, 

 stamp, toss their heads, wrinkle their hides, or wander restlessly about the pasture. 

 The flies rob the animals of blood that should be going to make beef or butterfat. A 

 pint or more of blood a day is not an unusual loss for an animal in some Illinois M 

 pastures where horse flies are numerous. Tests in southern Illinois show that heavy 

 feeding by these large biting flies costs cattlemen nearly a pound of beef per animal 

 per day and dairymen 3 or more pounds of butterfat per animal per month. 



Some of the biting flies help to spread diseases among domestic animals. 

 Horse flies are said by veterinarians to spread anthrax and anaplasmosis, diseases 

 that in many cases are fatal to cattle. 



KINDS OF BITING FLIES IN ILLINOIS 



The biting flies that do the most damage to cattle in Illinois axe horn flies, 

 stable flies, and horse flies. 



Automatic sprayer on farm in Fayette County, summer of 1951. A spray unit 

 installed as part of a chute mounted on skids was placed between two pastures, one 

 improved and the other unimproved. Water was available in both pastures. Salt was 

 placed in the unimproved pasture. Control of flies was excellent. 



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