SURVIVAL OF THE HOUSE-DUST MITE, DERMATOPHAGOIDES-FARINAE, AT HIGH-TEMPERATURES (40-80-DEGREES-C)

Experiments were conducted to evaluate the survival time of randomly s elected female D. farinae exposed to temperatures from 40 to 80 degree s C and relative humidities (RHs) between 10 and 90%. Significant temp erature effects were found on the length of time mites can survive und er those conditions. The time needed to induce 100% mortality for fema le D. farinae held at 40 degrees C varied between 39 and 84 h. At 70 a nd 80 degrees C, all mites died within 5 minutes. At 50 degrees C and above, RH had little influence and temperature alone was the determini ng factor for mile survival. The length of survival time decreased pre cipitously between 40 and 50 degrees C, suggesting that a loss of phys iological integrity of female D, farinae probably occurred in this ran ge. The results of this stud; indicated that the technique of raising temperatures to above 40 degrees C for a short duration can be used to reduce living house dust mite populations in homes significantly.