Animal Physiology

Our laboratory’s investigations cover the sensory ecology, neuroethology and ecophysiology of arthropods      

A large part of the research effort concentrates on understanding host finding, feeding and the ecophysiological adaptations of arthropod vectors of disease. This includes work on ticks, mosquitoes, tsetse flies, sand flies and triatomine bugs. We also investigate host plant finding and plant pollination by insects.  

Applied aspects of the research include:

• Development of technologies for the control of tsetse fly vectors of human African trypanosomiasis.
• Discovery of products that serve to reduce contact between hosts and ectoparasites in order to break pathogen transmission cycles.
• Improvement of mating disruption for the control of moth pests of the vine and pome fruits.

For more information see current research  Projects or contact Dr Patrick Guerin

Training and Techniques - in vitro feeding of hard ticks

The University's Department of Animal Physiology offers several short  (3-5 days) training courses a year on feeding hard ticks in vitro using an artificial membrane specifically developed for this purpose by the laboratory (pdf) 

For more information, please contact  Dr Thomas Kröber

Testing Repellents and Insecticides

Our laboratory's biologists have over 20 years experience in the evaluation of pest control products for manufacturing industry and national institutions as well as for research and development purposes. We undertake bioassays on a range of pest species, including ticks, mosquitoes, bed bugs and tsetse flies.

For more details and information on our product testing service, please contact Dr Patrick Guerin or Dr Thomas Kröber.