PREDATOR trap system for bird bloodsucking mites

The presence of bloodsucking mites (Dermanyssus gallinae or red mite) in the breeding of ornamental birds represents a parasitosis with often devastating effects … In fact, alongside the direct damage of the subtraction of blood (anemia of the subjects) they cause important phlogistic phenomena due to the saliva that it is injected to prevent blood from clotting where the parasite bites the skin. It should also not be underestimated that mites can be a source of contagion for other infectious diseases that may be present in the aviary. The problem has also been amplified by the increasingly reported drug resistance of these organisms to commonly used acaricidal products, which in any case may have residual toxicity for animals or for the breeder.
For these reasons we have thought of a mechanical perch trap system for bird bloodsucking mites: the PREDATOR.
The product consists of two conical inserts to be inserted on both sides of all the perches of the cage/aviary, transforming the perch into a mechanical trap that allows mites to enter but not escape. The principle of operation is relates to the biology of the parasites that are carried on birds at night to feed on their blood while during the day they descend from the animal to take refuge in the ravines away from the light and then return to feed in the following nights. The conical inserts have an inclined margin that favors the ascent of parasites and an entry hole of the minimum size to allow the adult females of Dermanyssus (larger than the males) to pass. They are also transparent so that the mites caught in the tube that try to move outwards at night to feed again (attracted by the minimum of night light) move to an eccentric and external position respect to the small entrance hole of the cone and remain trapped. The parasites thus captured will become dehydrated and die.