Adulticidal and Larvicidal
Jacobs, BVMS, PhD,
Effects of Imidacloprid:
Two-Stage Control
A
dult cat fleas (Ctenocephalides felis) feed on cats, dogs, and
other animals, including humans, but other flea life cycle
stages (Figure 1) develop off-host in carpets, upholstery,
and other places that provide shade and protection.1 The domestic
environment thereby acts as a reservoir of reinfestation for house-
hold pets. Consequently, single or occasional on-animal flea treat-
ments often have no more than a transient beneficial effect because
treated pets soon become reinfested from their surroundings. Envi-
ronmental control is therefore a necessary component of any long-
term flea control strategy, especially if the aim is to prevent recrudes-
cence of skin lesions in susceptible animals.2 Traditionally, this has
been achieved by direct application of chemicals throughout the
home.3 The recent development of new long-acting animal treat-
ments with flea adulticidal or insect growth regulatory activity has
enabled alternative methods to be developed to break the flea life
cycle. These treatments work on the principle that if all animals in
a household are treated so that no viable flea eggs ever drop to the
ground, the reservoir of eggs, larvae, and pupae in the domestic
environment prior to the start of a control program will progres-
sively diminish and ultimately disappear (Figure 2). One such treat-
ment, imidacloprid, is a long-acting insecticide that is applied as a
spot-on formulation (Advantage®, Bayer).4 This paper reviews find-
ings from several experimental models4–6 that have been used to
investigate various aspects of the efficacy of imidacloprid on cats.
Simulated Home Environment Study
The first study in the series5 showed that the establishment of
adult C. felis on cats reinfested at intervals after a single treatment
with imidacloprid was reduced by 99% to 100% for at least 3 weeks
and by more than 96% for at least 4 weeks (Figure 3). The dose used
was 10 mg/kg, which is the lowest dose used in practice. Thus, few
if any fleas jumping onto a treated cat during this period would sur-
vive long enough to produce a significant number of eggs. Theoret-
ically, therefore, monthly treatments with imidacloprid should
break the flea life cycle and thereby provide environmental control
within a household. This hypothesis was tested in a simulated home
environment model4 in which matched groups of cats were kept in
identical carpeted pens. The flea life cycle was established in each
pen, and one group of cats was treated with imidacloprid at 28-day
intervals. Results from the untreated control pen confirmed that the
TNAVC, January 2000
Dennis E.
FRCVS, FRCPath
The Royal Veterinary College
University of London
North Mymms, Hatfield, Herts AL9 7TA,
United Kingdom
model provided a severe test for the treatment strategy (Table 1). In
fact, the control cats needed to be combed frequently to maintain
their flea burdens within limits acceptable on welfare grounds. Nev-
ertheless, apparently complete suppression of the flea population
was obtained in the treatment pen. This result exceeded expecta-
tion because it had been assumed that treated cats would pick up
some fleas in the early stages of the trial while the carpeted pens
were still infested with off-host developmental stages. Work pro-
ceeding in Australia7 provided a possible explanation. Hopkins and
colleagues showed that skin debris falling from dogs treated with
imidacloprid possesses flea larvicidal properties. This suggested that
imidacloprid may have a short-term direct environmental effect as
well as the longer-term impact obtained by stopping flea egg pro-
duction. The next study6 was therefore designed to ascertain
whether a similar effect could have contributed to the rapid diminu-
tion of the overall flea population in the cat model.
First Larvicidal Study
To determine whether cats treated with imidacloprid can influ-
ence larval flea development in their immediate surroundings, 12
On the Cat
(5% of life cycle) Adult
In the Environment Egg
(95% of life cycle)
Larva
Pupa
Host-seeking
Emergent Adult
Figure 1—The flea life cycle.
Suppl Compend Contin Educ Pract Vet Vol. 22, No. 4(A), 2000
 BREAKING THE FLEA LIFE CYCLE 1 00

Efficacy (%)
80
If fleas on pets in a home are adequately controlled
60

No eggs will drop into environment 40

20
Reservoir of off-host life-cycle stages will be
0
progressively depleted until 0 1 2 3 4 5 6

24 hours Weeks
No more reinfestation 48 hours

Figure 2—Principle of environmental flea control by means of ani- Figure 3—Protection against reinfestation after a single treatment
mal treatments. with imidacloprid: Percentage of reduction in flea count after
repeated artificial challenge (measured 24 and 48 hours after each
infestation).

TABLE 1
SIMULATED HOME ENVIRONMENT STUDY: GROUP MEAN
FLEA COUNTS AND NUMBER OF WELFARE COMBINGSa
Flea Counts Welfare Combings

Week Control Treated Control Treated

2 6 0 0 0
4 7 0 0 0
6 70 0 0 0
8 78 0 2 0
10 49 0 4 0
12 47 0 4 0
14 61 0 3 0
16 95 0 5 0

aFor cats treated monthly with imidacloprid and untreated controls.

domestic shorthair cats were allocated by sex and body weight into
two separately penned groups: One was an untreated control group,
the other group was treated with imidacloprid at recommended dos-
es (i.e., cats weighing less than 4 kg received 0.4 ml of 10% spot-on
formulation while those over this body weight received 0.8 ml). Each
cat was allocated an individual cage where it spent 6 hours a day for
5 days each week from 1 week before to 4 weeks after the treatment
date. The floor of each cage was covered with a blanket that was
changed weekly. After removal from the cage, triplicated samples
were cut from each blanket and incubated with flea eggs and flea lar-
val food following standardized procedures. Larvicidal efficacy was
calculated by comparing the percentages of adult fleas developing
from the eggs placed on the blankets used by each group of cats.
No fleas were able to develop on blankets used by treated cats
during the first week after treatment (Table 2). No pupae were seen
at the end of the incubation period, indicating that the effect was
primarily larvicidal. Adult emergence was reduced by 84% on blan-
kets used by cats during the second week after treatment and by 60%
to 74% on those used in the third and fourth weeks. Thus, imida-
cloprid was shown to exert significant larvicidal activity in the
immediate environment of treated cats. It is likely, therefore, that
this effect did contribute to the rapid control of the flea population
observed in the simulated home environment study quoted above.4
Second Larvicidal Study
In real life there are many situations where imidacloprid could
collect over periods longer than the 5 days used in the first larvici-
dal study. A further (yet unpublished) experiment was therefore per-
formed to ascertain whether such accumulations could provide
greater larvicidal efficacy than that shown in the first study. To

Suppl Compend Contin Educ Pract Vet Vol. 22, No. 4(A), 2000 International Flea Control Symposium
 TABLE 2
FIRST LARVICIDAL STUDY:
PERCENTAGE OF REDUCTION OF
ADULT FLEA EMERGENCEa
Percentage
Week of Reduction
1 100
2 84
3 60
4 74
aFlea eggs were incubated on blankets used by cats during the first, sec-
ond, third, or fourth weeks after a single treatment with imidacloprid
(compared with blankets used by untreated cats). All differences
between control and treatment groups were significant (P < .001).
achieve this aim, cats from three separately penned groups were
individually caged, as before, for 6 hours on 5 days each week, but
the same blankets were kept in the cages throughout the investiga-
tion period. One group was treated on day 0, another on day 14,
while the third was an untreated control. The trial was concluded
on day 26. Thus, one set of blankets had been used by treated cats
for four 5-day periods during almost 4 weeks, and another set had
been used for two 5-day periods during almost 2 weeks. The in vit-
ro tests on the blankets are continuing, but preliminary results
(Table 3) indicate a 98% to 100% reduction in the number of fleas
able to develop on blankets used by the treated cats.
Conclusion
In the home, the greatest concentrations of flea eggs are found
where cats spend most time resting or sleeping.1, 8 These are also the
places where the greatest transfer of imidacloprid will occur. The
larvicidal activity of imidacloprid is thereby targeted to where it is
most needed. If the mechanism of transfer is by adherence to skin
debris, as is the case for dogs,7 then imidacloprid deposits will also
accumulate where flea eggs are dropped as a result of habitual ener-
TNAVC, January 2000
TABLE 3
SECOND LARVICIDAL STUDY:
NUMBER AND PERCENTAGE OF
REDUCTION OF ADULT FLEAS EMERGINGa
Percentage of
Period of Use Number of Fleas Reduction
Control 41 —
10 days 0 100
20 days 1 98
aFlea eggs were incubated on blankets used by untreated controls or by
imidacloprid-treated cats.
getic activity (such as jumping). It is likely, therefore, that the lar-
vicidal effect of imidacloprid may be of practical significance in
reducing the level of flea infestation in the domestic environment
during the early stages of control programs using this compound.
References
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flea. Annual Rev Entomol 42:451–473, 1997.
2. Carlotti DN, Jacobs DE: Therapy, control and prevention of flea allergy
dermatitis in dogs and cats. Vet Dermatol in press, 2000.
3. MacDonald JM: Flea control: An overview of treatment concepts for
North America. Vet Dermatol 6:121–130, 1995.
4. Jacobs DE, Hutchinson MJ, Fox MT, Krieger KJ: Comparison of flea con-
trol strategies using imidacloprid or lufenuron on cats in a controlled sim-
ulated home environment. Am J Vet Res 58:1260–1262, 1997.
5. Jacobs DE, Hutchinson MJ, Krieger KJ: Duration of activity of imidaclo-
prid, a novel adulticide for flea control, against Ctenocephalides felis on
cats. Vet Record 140:259–260, 1997.
6. Jacobs DE, Hutchinson MJ, Ewald-Hamm D: Inhibition of immature
Ctenocephalides felis Bouche (Siphonaptera: Pulicidae) development in
the immediate environment of cats treated with imidacloprid. J Med
Entomol in press, 2000.
7. Hopkins TJ, Woodley I, Gyr P: Imidacloprid topical formulation: Larvici-
dal effect against Ctenocephalides felis in the surroundings of treated dogs.
Austral Vet Pract 26:210, 1996.
8. Robinson WH: Distribution of cat flea larvae in the carpeted household.
Vet Dermatol 6:145–150, 1995.
Suppl Compend Contin Educ Pract Vet Vol. 22, No. 4(A), 2000