ORIGINAL PAPER In vitro control of the camel nasal botfly, Cephalopina titillator, with doramectin, lavender, camphor, and onion oils Hanem F. Khater & Mohamed Y. Ramadan & Abla D. Abdel Mageid Received: 27 January 2013 / Accepted: 28 March 2013 / Published online: 19 April 2013 # Springer-Verlag Berlin Heidelberg 2013 Abstract Camels are very important livestock particularly in arid and semiarid lands. The oestrid fly, Cephalopina titillator (Clark), causes nasopharyngeal myiasis in camels, and it is widely distributed in many camel breeding areas triggering health hazards and severe economic losses in camels. The prevalence of infestation of camels (slaughtered at Tokh’s slaughterhouse, Qalyubia Governorate, Egypt, during the period from September 2011 to March 2012) was 41.67 % (100 out of 240). Most infested camels devel- oped clinical signs of nasal discharge, restlessness, loss of appetite, difficulty in breathing, frequent sneezing, and snor- ing. Postmortem examination of infested camels explained that breathing of the animal is greatly impaired because of blockage of the nasopharynx by larvae and/or mucofibrinous secretions. The larval count per camel ranged from 1 to 250 (mean 28.45 ±6.48). In vitro larval immersion tests were carried out to determine the efficacy of doramectin (0.003 %) as well as some essential oils (50 % each) such as lavender, camphor, and onion oils against the second and third larval stages (L2 and L3) of C. titillator. Another trial had been done for imitating what could happen if the area around camels were treated with an insecticide or an insect repellent. All treated L2 died 18 h posttreatment (PT) with both doramectin and lavender, and 100 % mor- tality was reached for L3 after 24 and 30 h PT with lavender and doramectin, respectively. Doramectin and lavender in- duced the highest response against C. titillator as their lethal time (LT 50 ) values after treatment of L2 were 3.40 and 3.60 h, respectively, and those of L3 were 4.99 and 5.53 h, respectively. Against both L2 and L3 of C. titillator and based on LT 50 values of onion oil and those of other applied materials, doramectin and lavender oil were four times more effective than onion oil, and camphor oil was two times more effective than onion oil. Based on LT 50 values of essential oils and those of doramectin, as a reference sub- stance, the relative speed of efficacy indicated that camphor and onion oils were, respectively, two and four times less effective than doramectin and lavender. With regard to fu- migant technique, neither the insecticide, New Pyrosol®, nor the insect repellent, Keto®, was effective in controlling C. titillator larvae. Our results indicated that doramectin and lavender could be selected as drugs of choice for controlling C. titillator, but it is not permitted to use doramectin on dairy animals during lactation. Lavender (50 %) has a great potential to be developed as a novel larvicide and could be used as nasal drench against nasal botfly which will reflect on camel production and the national economy. Introduction Dromedary camels, Camelus dromedarius, are important species of livestock in arid and semiarid environments. Camels are raised basically for meat, milk, and hide. Camel nasopharyngeal myiasis is caused by larvae of the camel nasal botfly, Cephalopina titillator (Clark 1797) (Oestridae: Diptera), which attacks only camels (Hussein et al. 1982; Higgins 1985). The female fly darts towards the nostrils of camels and deposits its larvae which crawl up to the nasopharynx and sometimes the paranasal sinuses. Spratt (1984) reported the occurrence of the oestrid botfly from the frontal sinuses, nasal cavities, and tracheae of C. dromedarius. Larvae molt twice while attached to the nasopharyngeal and paranasal mucous membranes (Hussein et al. 1982). Moreover, Zayed (1998) reported that the first molt occurred in the labyrinth of the ethmoid bone and the second molt was observed in both the labyrinth of the ethmoid bone and H. F. Khater (*) : M. Y. Ramadan Department of Parasitology, Faculty of Veterinary Medicine, Benha University, Moshtohor, Toukh 13736, Egypt e-mail: hafkhater@yahoo.com A. D. A. Mageid Department of Entomology, Faculty of Science, Benha University, Benha 13111, Egypt Parasitol Res (2013) 112:2503–2510 DOI 10.1007/s00436-013-3415-2