Host and Habitat Use by Parasitoids (Hymenoptera: Pteromalidae) of House Fly and Stable Fly (Diptera: Muscidae) Pupae

House fly and stable fly pupae were collected during the summer from a dairy farm in northern Illinois. Spalangia nigroaenea accounted for most of the parasitoids recovered from house flies. Spalangia nigra, S. endius, Muscidifurax spp., and S. nigroaenea accounted for most of the parasitoids from stable flies. The majority of flies were house flies late in the summer and stable flies early in the summer. Higher percentages of house flies tended to be in samples containing lower substrate moisture and higher substrate temperature. Parasitism of stable flies started earlier and peaked weeks before that of house flies, with overall parasitism highest from mid-to late-summer. Parasitism of house flies, but not stable flies, differed significantly among habitats, being greater in calf hutches than in edge samples. Hymenopterous parasitoids from house flies tended to include a greater percentage of S. nigroaenea (and a lower percentage of Muscidifurax spp.) in calf hutches versus drainage or edge habitats and in sub- strates consisting of mostly wood shavings versus mostly manure. Within samples, differential parasitism of fly species was not detected for S. nigroaenea, S. endius, or Muscidifurax spp.; but S. nigra preferentially parasitized stable flies

Elements of IPM for Dairy Cattle in New York State

NYS IPM Type: Livestock IPM ElementsThis is a checklist of items to help you develop or analyze whether you use IPM for flies in your dairy operation. If the IPM practice listed below is used across the farm then check it off and give yourself the all the points. If not, no points should be awarded. To be considered an IPM farm you must have 80% of the points accumulated

More oxygen during development enhanced flight performance but not thermal tolerance of Drosophila melanogaster

High temperatures can stress animals by raising the oxygen demand above the oxygen supply. Consequently, animals under hypoxia could be more sensitive to heating than those exposed to normoxia. Although support for this model has been limited to aquatic animals, oxygen supply might limit the heat tolerance of terrestrial animals during energetically demanding activities. We evaluated this model by studying the flight performance and heat tolerance of flies (Drosophila melanogaster) acclimated and tested at different concentrations of oxygen (12%, 21%, and 31%). We expected that flies raised at hypoxia would develop into adults that were more likely to fly under hypoxia than would flies raised at normoxia or hyperoxia. We also expected flies to benefit from greater oxygen supply during testing. These effects should have been most pronounced at high temperatures, which impair locomotor performance. Contrary to our expectations, we found little evidence that flies raised at hypoxia flew better when tested at hypoxia or tolerated extreme heat better than did flies raised at normoxia or hyperoxia. Instead, flies raised at higher oxygen levels performed better at all body temperatures and oxygen concentrations. Moreover, oxygen supply during testing had the greatest effect on flight performance at low temperature, rather than high temperature. Our results poorly support the hypothesis that oxygen supply limits performance at high temperatures, but do support the idea that hyperoxia during development improves performance of flies later in life

New records of Tephritidae (Diptera) from Great Smoky Mountains National Park - 2

Thirty additional species of tephritid flies (Diptera: Tephritidae) from Great Smoky Mountains National Park (GSMNP), including historical records, are presented together with information on host(s), if known, distributions, and life histories. This brings the total number of tephritid flies recorded from GSMNP to 46

The scaling of carbon dioxide release and respiratory water loss in flying fruit flies (Drosophila spp.)

By simultaneously measuring carbon dioxide release, water loss and flight force in several species of fruit flies in the genus Drosophila, we have investigated respiration and respiratory transpiration during elevated locomotor activity. We presented tethered flying flies with moving visual stimuli in a virtual flight arena, which induced them to vary both flight force and energetic output. In response to the visual motion, the flies altered their energetic output as measured by changes in carbon dioxide release and concomitant changes in respiratory water loss. We examined the effect of absolute body size on respiration and transpiration by studying four different-sized species of fruit flies. In resting flies, body-mass-specific CO(2) release and water loss tend to decrease more rapidly with size than predicted according to simple allometric relationships. During flight, the mass-specific metabolic rate decreases with increasing body size with an allometric exponent of -0.22, which is slightly lower than the scaling exponents found in other flying insects. In contrast, the mass-specific rate of water loss appears to be proportionately greater in small animals than can be explained by a simple allometric model for spiracular transpiration. Because fractional water content does not change significantly with increasing body size, the smallest species face not only larger mass-specific energetic expenditures during flight but also a higher risk of desiccation than their larger relatives. Fruit flies lower their desiccation risk by replenishing up to 75 % of the lost bulk water by metabolic water production, which significantly lowers the risk of desiccation for animals flying under xeric environmental conditions

House Flies: Manure, Media, and Microbes

This study was conducted to determine if there is a difference in bacterial abundance in house flies based on sex and rearing environment (manure versus artificial media) for house flies. This is important in determining the effectiveness of the facilities where the flies are being raised. Although, previous studies have shown differences in bacterial abundance between male and female house flies, it still remains unknown whether there is a discrepancy in bacterial abundance between rearing environments in the lab. We hypothesized that there would be a greater abundance of bacteria in females than males and a greater bacterial abundance in the manure environment than the artificial media. We determined that there was no significant difference between house fly sex or the environments in which they were raised. These results are meaningful because they introduce evidence of forced interaction that could skew the bacterial counts. In the future, the results would be more telling with a larger sample size.

Performance of augmentorium as a sanitation technique against fruit flies (Diptera: tephritidae) in Reunion Island

Background. Tephritid fruit flies cause severe damage to fruit and vegetable crops in Reunion Island. Instead of the curative approach to reduce existing populations, the first step proposed for their management is sanitation. This method is based on an original technique firstly developed by USDA in Hawaii utilizing a tent-like structure called an "augmentorium" which aims to sequester adult flies emerging from infested fruit while allowing the parasitoids to escape, via a net placed at the top of the structure. This study focused on the performance and the efficiency of the augmentorium prototype recently tested in Reunion Island and particularly (i) the number of adult flies that can potentially be sequestered in an augmentorium in the field; (ii) the efficiency of the net mesh for fly sequestration and parasitoid escape; (iii) the feasibility of producing compost with infested fruit collected in the field. Method. The potential number of flies that could be sequestered was estimated by measuring in the lab the emergence of several species of flies from infested fruit collected in the field from 2005 to 2009 in different sites of the island. Emergence of adult flies was measured for six species of flies: (i) Bactrocera cucurbitae, Dacus ciliatus and D. demmerezi attacking three species of Cucurbits (pumpkin: Cucurbita maxima; cucumber: Cucumis sativus and courgette: Cucurbita pepo); (ii) Bactrocera zonata, Ceratitis rosa and C. capitata attacking one species of fruit (mango: Mangifera indica). The sequestration of three of these fly species (B. cucurbitae, B. zonata and C. capitata) and the escape of two of their parasitoids (Psyttalia fletcheri and Fopius arisanus) were assessed in the Cirad laboratory in Saint-Pierre in 2008. Preliminary tests on the feasibility of producing compost were then conducted in Saint-Pierre in 2009, mixing courgette and other components. Results. Collections of infested fruits showed the following means of emerged adults per kg of fruit: 76 for mango (B. zonata, C. rosa, C. capitata); 217 for cucumber, 340 for pumpkin and 594 for courgette (B. cucurbitae, D. ciliatus, D. demmerezi). The efficiency of the mesh chosen for the prototype of augmentorium (hole area 1.96 mm²) proved to be perfectly effective in the lab with 100% of sequestration of adult flies. In the same way, 100% of the parasitoids were able to escape from the mesh if they choose to do so. In addition, we showed that a ratio of 50:30:20 of courgette, sugar cane stem and chicken litter respectively was well adapted to produce compost. Conclusion. These results confirm the relevance and the efficiency of the augmentorium in an agroecological crop protection. As a sanitation technique against fruit flies, the augmentorium sequesters on average several hundreds of adult flies per kg of infested fruit. As a biological control method, it may contribute to increase parasitoid populations which are often low because of the previous and significant pesticide pressure. The augmentorium can also be considered as a useful tool to produce compost in the context of sustainable agriculture. The technique of sanitation using the augmentorium is now well accepted by farmers in pilot areas in Reunion Island. (Texte intégral

A New Chamber for Studying the Behavior of Drosophila

Methods available for quickly and objectively quantifying the behavioral phenotypes of the fruit fly, Drosophila melanogaster, lag behind in sophistication the tools developed for manipulating their genotypes. We have developed a simple, easy-to-replicate, general-purpose experimental chamber for studying the ground-based behaviors of fruit flies. The major innovative feature of our design is that it restricts flies to a shallow volume of space, forcing all behavioral interactions to take place within a monolayer of individuals. The design lessens the frequency that flies occlude or obscure each other, limits the variability in their appearance, and promotes a greater number of flies to move throughout the center of the chamber, thereby increasing the frequency of their interactions. The new chamber design improves the quality of data collected by digital video and was conceived and designed to complement automated machine vision methodologies for studying behavior. Novel and improved methodologies for better quantifying the complex behavioral phenotypes of Drosophila will facilitate studies related to human disease and fundamental questions of behavioral neuroscience

The effects of disruptive and stabilizing selection on body size in Drosophila melanogaster. III. Genetic analysis of two lines with different reactions to disruptive selection with mating of opposite extremes

A genetic analysis was made of two lines which when subjected to disruptive selection with compulsary mating of opposite extremes (D−) showed a different response viz. one, D−-1, showing predominantly an increase of environmental variance and possibly interaction variance, the other, D−-2, showing an increase of genetic variance. Crosses between extreme flies within lines revealed that D−-1 genomes from large flies are dominant to genomes from small individuals. In D−-2 the genetic variation is predominantly additive variance. Tests for dominant chromosome effect in crosses with an inbred stock with recessive markers showed clear third chromosome differences in D−-2 and not in D−-1. Chromosome exchange between extreme flies corroborated the importance of genetic differences in D−-2. A factor or complex of factors with large effect decreasing body size is located on third chromosomes from small flies in D−-2. Interaction between chromosomes has a similar magnitude in the two lines. Crowding and temperature experiments did not reveal an increased general sensitivity to environmental factors in D−-1, which was suggested by the enlarged environmental variance of this line