Comparative in vitro anti-tick efficacy of commercially available products and newly developed phyto-formulations against field collected and resistant tick lines of Rhipicephalus (Boophilus) microplus.

Rhipicephalus (Boophilus) microplus is considered as one of the most widely distributed tick species ecto-parasitizing on livestock and causes fatal diseases with significant production loss. To address the problem of controlling acaricide resistant tick infestations on animals, attention has been paid to develop eco-friendly phyto-acaricides. The present study was undertaken to evaluate the comparative anti-tick activities of commercially available herbal and chemical products with chemically characterized phyto-formulations developed recently against field ticks and resistant tick lines of R. (B.) microplus. The chemical product Butox® Vet was found nearly passive against all the tested resistant tick lines. However, one of the commercial polyherbal product, Zerokeet® showed an efficacy (E%) of 41.8-75.4 % ([Formula: see text]) using recommended dilution (1:2) against field ticks and resistant tick lines. However, the other commercial product, Erina® EP has very limited efficacy against all the tested tick. In comparison, the newly developed phyto-formulation, NBA/13/B/2 and NAC-01 conferred an E% of 82.4-91.3 % ([Formula: see text]) and 62.3-94.6 % ([Formula: see text]), respectively, against tested resistant ticks. Results indicated higher marketing potentiality of newly developed formulation in the existing tick problem scenario.