Professor Richard Wall 
Professor of Zoology | University of Bristol
Bristol, UNITED KINGDOM
Researching the arthropod pests, parasites and vectors that cause animal diseases across the world
Areas of Expertise (10)
Mites
Animal Disease
Ectoparasites
How To Manage Parasites
Tick Borne Disease
Ticks
Parasites
Myiasis
Animal Health
Fleas
Biography
Professor Richard Wall is based in the School of Biological Sciences. His research examines the ecology and control various arthropods that feed on livestock and companion animals, including ticks, flies, fleas, lice and mites. He has studied blowflies in Australasia, tsetse flies and ticks in Africa and several species of flies in India.
Professor Wall is exploring novel alternatives for eradicating parasites, particularly using essential oils. He was awarded the Peter Nansen prize and the WAAVP/Bayer Award for research excellence in veterinary parasitology by the World Association for the Advancement of Parasitology.
Media
Publications:
Documents:
Photos:
Videos:
Audio/Podcasts:
Accomplishments (3)
Veterinary Record Prize: published research paper with greatest clinical impact in the year
2018
Elected treasurer/secretary to the executive committee of the WAAVP
2015
Elected to the executive committee of the WAAVP
2013
Education (3)
Open University: M.B.A., Business Administration 1996
University of Liverpool: Ph.D., Insect Population Ecology 1985
University of Durham: B.Sc., Zoology 1981
Links (2)
Articles (5)
Reproductive sublethal effects of macrocyclic lactones and synthetic pyrethroids on the dung beetle Onthophagus similis
Bulletin of Entomological Research2020 Dung-colonizing beetles provide a range of ecosystem services in farmland pasture systems. However, such beetles are declining in Northern temperate regions. This may, in part, be due to the widespread use of macrocyclic lactones (MLs) and synthetic pyrethroids (SPs) in livestock farming. These chemicals are used to control pests and parasites of cattle; the residues of which are excreted in dung at concentrations toxic to insects.
Essential oils as tick repellents on clothing
Experimental and Applied Acarology2019 Essential oils show promise as natural alternatives to synthetic tick repellents, but few studies have investigated their repellent efficacy in vivo or under field conditions. Here, blanket-drags and standardised walks were employed to evaluate tick acquisition by 1 m2 cotton blankets or cotton trousers, respectively, in woodland edge habitats of known high tick abundance.
Multiple resistance to macrocyclic lactones in the sheep scab mite Psoroptes ovis
Veterinary Parasitology2019 The astigmatid mite Psoroptes ovis (Acari: Proroptidae) causes the highly contagious and debilitating ovine disease, sheep scab. This ectoparasitic infection has a high economic and animal welfare impact on British sheep farming. Following recent work demonstrating resistance of Psoroptes mites to moxidectin, a widely used macrocyclic lactone (ML) treatment for scab, the current study compared the toxicity of three of the commonly administered macrocylic lactone therapeutic treatments (moxidectin, ivermectin and doramectin) to P. ovis from outbreak populations that had appeared unresponsive to treatment.
Spatial and temporal habitat partitioning by calliphorid blowflies
Med Vet Entomol.2019 Calliphorid blowflies perform an essential ecosystem service in the consumption, recycling and dispersion of carrion nutrients and are considered amongst the most important functional groups in an ecosystem. Some species are of economic importance as facultative agents of livestock myiasis. The interspecific ecological differences that facilitate coexistence within the blowfly community are not fully understood.
Seasonal abundance of the stable fly Stomoxys calcitrans in southwest England
Medical Veterinary Entomology2019 The stable fly Stomoxys calcitrans (L.) is a cosmopolitan biting fly of both economic and welfare concern, primarily as a result of its painful bite, which can cause blood loss, discomfort and loss of productivity in livestock. Between June and November in 2016 and May and December in 2017, Alsynite sticky‐traps were deployed at four Donkey Sanctuary sites in southwest England, which experience recurrent seasonal biting fly problems.
Social