Ii. Review of Literature

Amitraz is a main member of the Formamidines group of insecticide, which acts as octopamine receptor sites in ectoparasites resulting in neuronal hyperexcitability and death (Nathanson, 1985). It is available as a spray or dip for use against mites, lice and ticks in domestic livestock (Taylor, 2000). In cattle, for example amitraz has been widely used in dips, sprays or pour-on formulations for the control of single host and multihost tick species. In dipping baths, it can be stabilized by the addition of calcium hydroxide (Stanford et al., 1981) and maintained by standard replenishment methods for routine tick control. An alternative method has been the use of total replenishment formulations whereby the dip bath is replenished with the full concentration of amitraz at weekly intervals. Amitraz has also been shown to have an expellent action against attached ticks (Baker et al., 1973; Harrison and Palmer, 1981). It has been used against mange in pigs and psoroptic mange in sheep (Curtis, 1985).