the design and manufacture of insecticidal collars , pendants and ear tags present significant challenges for formulators . the devices must be able to incorporate a sufficient amount of an effective insecticide to produce the desired effect , while being able to release and deliver the insecticide at such a rate so as to provide effective insect control . in addition , the devices must be strong enough to survive a harsh environment . this includes the physical rigors of being twisted and pulled by the animals that wear them , such as cattle , as well withstanding rain , sunlight and other weather effects . in order to preserve durability , longevity and efficacy in ear tags , collars and pendants , ingredients that are easy to formulate and have minimal stability issues are generally selected . active ingredients , such as permethrin and organophosphates , which are highly lipophilic , low melting solids or liquids with good solubility in most organic solvents , are typically selected . these molecules have a high thermodynamic activity which enhances their deliverability . conversely , if a molecule has a low thermodynamic activity , it means that the crystal structure is highly organized and a great deal more energy is required to convert to the liquid state . this makes the molecule difficult to manipulate from a delivery standpoint . metaflumizone is a new insecticidal entity that shows promise as an active ingredient against of number of undesirable insect species . however it is a high melting solid and is relatively insoluble in many organic solvents . the melting point is 176 ° c . for metaflumizone , which is indicative of a highly ordered crystal state . additionally , metaflumizone has poor solubility and instability in a number of solvents typically used in formulations . because of these properties , metaflumizone would generally not be considered an agent ideally suited for animal ear tags , collars and pendants . surprisingly it has been discovered that in the particular formulations described herein , the non - ideal physical properties of metaflumizone are overcome and are actually provide for a very effective insecticide in solid state delivery devices such as ear tags , collars and pendants . metaflumizone has a very high solubility in diethyl phthalate allowing for formulation of a pvc matrix where much of the active ingredient is dissolved in a solvent . diethyl phthalate also allows metaflumizone to exist in a less ordered and molecularly active state , which enhances the movement of the active ingredient out of the pvc matrix and onto the animal . the undissolved metaflumizone can then act as a reservoir to keep the solvent in a saturated state . the use of diethyl phthalate and pvc with metaflumizone has resulted in an ear tag that is surprisingly durable while providing 70 - 90 days of control of cattle horn flies and . additionally , in a two - part ear tag device or a pendant , the first component is constructed so as to be attached to the animal and may be constructed of virtually any material of suitable size and strength . preferably the first component is manufactured from thermoplastic resin materials , such as polyvinylchloride resins and polyurethrane elastomers or impregnated cloth , fabric , or other material . a suitable pin , clip or ring for the two part ear tag or pendant embodiment of the invention may be of any design including that of a bayonet type system , provided it holds the ear tag or pendant in place . a means for securing the pin may optionally be employed and it may be either an integral part of the design or an independent unit . u . s . pat . no . 3 , 731 , 414 , which is herein incorporated by reference , discloses a preferred means of attachment to the animal &# 39 ; s ear which is suitable for the present invention . the component carrying the metaflumizone is normally comprised on a weight basis of about 40 % to 99 % or 40 % to 90 % of a thermoplastic resin comprising polyvinylchloride and optionally other ingredients , particularly a plasticizer such as a phthalate , preferably diethylphthalate . metaflumizone is preferably present at about 1 % to 30 % or more particularly 5 % to 15 %. depending upon the characteristics of the polyvinylchloride or other thermoplastic resin chosen , other optional components may include about 0 . 0 % to 4 . 0 % of a processing stabilizer such as epoxidized soybean oil ; about 0 . 0 % to 10 . 0 % or 0 . 02 % to 10 . 0 % of a lubricant such as stearic acid ; 0 . 0 % or 0 . 3 % to 0 . 5 % of a chelating agent such as trinonylphosphite ; about 0 . 1 % to 2 . 5 % of a heat processing stabilizer such as calcium - zinc stearate or stabilizer blend ; about 0 % to 5 . 0 % of a flow agent such as sio 2 ; about 0 % to 35 . 0 % of insecticidal synergists and migration accelerators such as piperonyl butoxide ; about 0 % to 70 . 0 % of a plasticizer or mixture of plasticizers such as an phthalate , including dialkylphthalate , dioctylphthalate , benzylbutylphthalate , dibutylphthalate , diethylphthalate , citrate esters , adipates or sebacates ; and about 1 % to 30 % of additional insecticidal agents , such as amitraz , fipronil , imidachloprid , permethrin , pyrethrins , piperonyl butoxide , chlorfenapyr or fenothrin . if desired , a colorant , in the amount of about 0 . 5 to 2 . 0 % can be added , such as , to provide distinction of animals with the metaflumizone - bearing device . a preferred colorant is tio 2 . additional agents to be added include epoxidized soybean oil , preferably at about 1 % to 5 %, more particularly about 3 %. metaflumizone is a new insecticide , described in u . s . pat . no . 5 , 543 , 573 , and u . s . published application 2004 - 0122075a1 , both incorporated herein by reference . the metaflumizone - bearing component may be fabricated out of a material which is different from the material of the first component . this metaflumizone - bearing component may be fabricated on a matrix such as a natural or synthetic cloth or fiber mesh for example , polyaramid or a polyester , wire mesh or a solid dispersion of polyvinylchloride polymer or copolymer matrix by coating , extruding , coextruding or impregnating the metaflumizone - resin composition onto the matrix . alternatively , the metaflumizone component can be introduced at the formation stage of the thermoplastic resin and incorporated into the tag as a single unit device . the metaflumizone - bearing component may be fabricated by preparing a blend of the dry ingredients by admixing them in a blender , heating the mixture while blending it in a temperature range of 80 ° c . to 120 ° c . and slowly adding a mixture of the liquid ingredients and mixing until a relatively dry blend is obtained . the resulting homogeneous blend is cooled while mixing and the optional sio 2 added and blended in to obtain a homogeneous dry blend , which may then be molded , extruded or coextruded optionally onto a matrix or the dry blend may then be pelletized by extrusion and the pelletized dry blend then molded , extruded , or coextruded optionally onto a matrix as described above and punched or cut into the desired shape . alternatively , the metaflumizone - bearing component may be prepared by coating or dipping a matrix with a vinyl dispersion containing the active ingredients , as disclosed herein by u . s . pat . no . 5 , 104 , 569 which is incorporated by reference . additionally , this metaflumizone - bearing component may contain more than one section . individual sections may be composed of the same or different ingredients and may also provide different release rates of active ingredients . such a second component allows for the application of active ingredients which would not be compatible in a single section as well as an alternative method for delivering mixtures of active ingredients at the same or different rates . for some applications , it has been found that the use of impregnated coated , extruded or co - extruded fabric matrix tags of a one piece design offers several advantages over conventional one piece molded tags . when a composition containing an insecticidally active ingredient or mixture of insecticidally active ingredients is fabricated on a matrix of natural or synthetic cloth or fiber mesh , or a wire mesh , the result is a stronger ear tag which is less prone to breakage and thus allows a greater range of compositions to be incorporated into the tag . also , the one piece matrix animal ear tag , due to the strength of the matrix , is not as restricted in the means of attachment to the ear as a plastic molded ear tag . such matrix materials are also suitably formed as neck collars or pendants . the invention is further illustrated by the following non - limiting examples . the first or second components shown herein are intended to encompass all design modifications including different shapes and sizes . dry blends of various compositions are prepared utilizing the ingredients listed in table i below by blending the solid ingredients until a homogeneous mixture is obtained and then heating the mixture to 85 ° c . a mixture of the liquid ingredients is then slowly added to the agitated mixture . when all of the liquid is added to the mixture , the mixture is heated to 110 ° c . and agitated for 10 minutes . the agitated blend is cooled to 70 ° c . and sufficient sio 2 is added to obtain a free - flowing dry blend . the dry blend is then cooled to ambient temperatures and collected . the compositions prepared in a above may be pelletized using standard low shear extruders at elevated temperatures normally in the range of 300 ° f . to 350 ° f . the resulting extruded material is then cut to the desired size by air chopping and the resulting pellets are packaged . pellets prepared as in b above are charged to a 350 ton press and the temperature and time profile is set to 325 ° f . for twenty seconds . the compositions are molded to the desired size by injection molding or extruded and the resulting components packaged . another method of preparation of single phase ear tags would be to dry blend the following ingredients at room temperature : these ingredients , after dry blending in an appropriate mixer such as a ribbon blender , are then transferred to a single or twin screw extruder which in turn feeds an injection molding device to mold to the desired form or configuration metaflumizone - bearing components are prepared using the dry blends prepared as described in example 1a , containing 54 parts by weight of the metaflumizone , and 18 parts by weight of several plasticizers per 100 parts of pvc . these dry blends are pelletized and extruded onto a cloth matrix and punch and die cut to the desired shape giving an insecticidal component weighing approximately 8 grams . acetyl tributyl citrate 180 g is added to a stirred mixture of 300 g of a vinyl resin having an inherent viscosity of 1 . 20 and average particle size of 0 . 95 microns and optionally 6 g of ca / zn stearate and 9 g of epoxidized soybean oil . to this stirred mixture is added 100 g of metaflumizone ( 90 % pure ). the resulting mixture is stirred until homogeneous and then deaerated at room temperature overnight at 686 mm / hg . a solid matrix is preheated to 100 ° c . and dipped into the insecticidal coating composition prepared in example 2 . the resulting coated components are cured in an oven at 90 ° c . to 135 ° c . for five to eight minutes , resulting in coated matrixes containing 1 . 7 g to 2 . 86 g of the metaflumizone coating composition . ( a ) a vinyl dispersion is prepared utilizing the procedure of example 3 and the materials listed in table ii below . ( b ) metaflumizone coating compositions may then be prepared by addition of the metaflumizone to the vinyl dispersion prepared in example 5 ( a ) and blending until homogeneous . the resulting mixture is then deaerated at reduced pressure 686 mm / hg for 16 hours , giving a metaflumizone composition suitable for preparing coated ear tag devices . ( c ) ear tag insect control devices may then be prepared by coating and curing the resulting coated matrix at 90 ° c . to 135 ° c . for 2 - 10 minutes . co - extruded bilayer cattle ear tags containing metaflumizone and various other insecticides another method of preparation of bilayer ear tags would be prepare two dry blended compositions , one containing metaflumizone , and separately , a dry blend containing another insecticide , such as , but not limited to , amitraz , fipronil , imidachloprid , permethrin , pyrethrins , piperonyl butoxide , chlorfenapyr , fenothrin . each of the layers would be prepared in an analogous manner : each of the layers is blended separately in a device such as a ribbon blender . each composition is loaded into a dual - feed extruder where a single or twin screw extruder in turn feeds an injection molding device . the screw extruder works each phase separately . the resulting molten matrices can then be injected into the mold which is configured as an ear tag with appropriate dimensions for thickness and total ear tag weight , formed under vacuum and then expelled for cooling and curing at room temperature . preparation of a one piece matrix animal ear tag by extrusion onto polyester cloth two dry blends are prepared by the procedure of example 1 containing , on a weight basis , 100 parts pvc , 18 . 88 parts epoxidized soybean oil , 0 . 54 parts stearic acid , 0 . 65 parts trinonylphosphate , 1 . 96 parts ca / zn stearate , 0 . 44 parts hyp212 , 0 . 76 parts hyp211 , 2 . 0 parts hw132 , 0 . 65 parts uiv stabilizer , 30 parts metaflumizone ; one with 18 parts benzylbutylphthalate ( bbp ), and the other with 18 parts acetyltributyl citrate ( atbc ). each of these dry blends is coated onto a fabric mesh matrix by coextruding the melt through a profile die onto the matrix . the resulting impregnated matrix is cut into the shape of a standard one piece animal ear tag weighing approximately 8 . 5 grams . these insecticidal ear tags are hung in a chamber covered with mesh cloth to keep the flies confined in the 12 × 17 ″× 9 ″ space . each chamber contains a cup of water and a supply of sugar and powdered milk . at the start of the test , about 100 three to five day old house flies are placed in each chamber . the chambers are kept in a room with the temperature at 82 ° f . the flies are observed daily ( except saturday and sunday ) and mortality is recorded . at the termination of the study , the chambers are placed in a freezer overnight to kill the remaining flies , which are counted . the percent mortality is calculated based on the number of flies that die during the observation and the number of flies counted at the end of the study . a slurry of metaflumizone and diethyl phthalate was stirred and heated to ˜ 80 ° c . virgin pvc , epoxidized soybean oil , calcium - zinc stabilizer and titanium dioxide were heated to ˜ 80 ° c . and slowly mixed with the slurry for about 3 hours . the resulting pvc mix was then molded by means of an injection molder to form ear tags having the following formula : cattle ear tags made in this manner were tested for control of horn flies over a 98 day period of time . the results of a cattle study are shown below in table ii . as evidenced by the results in table ii , the ear tags are very effective for the control of horn flies on cattle .
the present invention provides novel insecticidal animal ear tags , neck collars or pendants , and a method for controlling insects in a homeothermic animal .