in a two - part ear tag device or a pendant , the first component constructed so as to be attached to the animal 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 90 % of a polyvinylchloride or other thermoplastic resin ; and about 1 % to 30 % of metaflumizone . 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 . 02 % to 10 . 0 % of a lubricant such as stearic acid ; about 0 . 3 % to 0 . 5 % of a chelating agent such as trinonylphosphite ; about 01 % to 2 . 5 % of a heat processing stabilizer such as calcium - zinc stearate ; 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 25 . 0 % of a plasticizer or mixture of plasticizers such as dioctylphthalate , benzylbutylphthalate , dibutylphthalate , 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 , especially to provide distinction of animals with the metaflumizone - bearing device . 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 preferably 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 . 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 . table i % wt of wt ( g ) dispersion polyvinylchloride resin 100 44 . 4 - 62 . 9 epoxidized soybean oil 10 . 88 4 . 8 - 6 . 8 stearic acid 0 . 54 0 . 2 - 0 . 3 trinonylphosphate 0 . 65 0 . 3 - 0 . 4 ca / zn stearate 1 . 96 0 . 9 - 1 . 2 sio 2 0 . 71 0 . 3 - 0 . 4 hyp 212p 0 . 44 0 . 2 - 0 . 3 hyp 211p 0 . 76 0 . 3 - 0 . 4 hw 132p 1 . 09 0 . 5 - 0 . 7 uv stabilizer 5411 0 . 65 0 . 3 - 0 . 4 metaflumizone 17 . 74 to 40 . 00 7 . 9 - 25 . 2 plasticizers mixture 18 . 9 to 46 . 0 8 . 4 - 29 . 5 benzylbutylphthalate dibutylphthalate dioctylphthalate acetyltributyl citrate dioctyladipate 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 : ingredient amount ( parts ) modified pvc such as superkleen ® 69 - 89 polyvinyl chloride resin ( sold by alphagary ) metaflumizone 10 to 30 colorant ( as needed ) 0 - 1 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 . table ii ingredient wt ( g ) % wt of dispersion resin ( inherent viscosity 1 . 20 average ) 300 49 . 72 ( particle size 0 . 95 microns ) butyl benzyl phthalate 180 29 . 82 epoxidized soybean oil 9 1 . 49 ca / zn stearate 6 0 . 99 benzophenone ultraviolet stabilizer 2 0 . 33 ( 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 : layer 1 modified pvc superkleen ® 100 parts polyvinyl chloride resin ( sold by alpha gary ) metaflumizone 10 to 40 parts colorant ( as needed ) 0 - 1 part layer 2 modified pvc superkleen ® 100 parts polyvinyl chloride resin ( sold by alpha gary ) acetyl tributyl citrate or another acceptable plasticizer 30 parts amitraz 10 to 30 parts colorant ( as needed ) 1 part 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 are 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 .
the present invention provides novel insecticidal animal ear tags , neck collars or pendants , and a method for controlling insects in a homeothermic animal .