Population dynamics ofLucilia eximia(Dipt., Calliphoridae)

Abstract

The theoretical dynamics of experimental populations of Lucilia eximia was investigated as an attempt to understand its population biology. Specifically the population dynamics of L. eximia was analysed by means of a mathematical model that incorporates fecundity and survival as density-dependent demographic parameters in discrete time. The sensitivity of these parameters to changes in the magnitude was also investigated. The mathematical model applied to experimental populations of L. eximia predicts a theoretical one-point equilibrium for immatures. The population dynamics of L. eximia is compared to the dynamics of Chrysomya species and Cochliomyia macellaria.

Population dynamics of Musca domestica (Diptera: Muscidae): experimental and theoretical studies at different temperatures

“…Similar results have been observed in blowfly populations Godoy et al, 1993;Reis et al, 1996;Godoy et al, 1997Godoy et al, , 2001Silva et al, 2003). Competition for food has been investigated in insect populations and Nicholson (1954) divided competition into the scramble and contest modes.…”

“…Lucilia eximia and C. macellaria are blowfly species which exhibit the same behavior, showing stable equilibrium (Godoy et al, 1997;Silva et al, 2003). On the other hand, all Chrysomya species have shown a two-point limit cycle (Godoy et al, 2001).…”

“…Gains of competitors in contests are all or nothing, whereas in scrambles, all individuals achieve some gains, if sometimes less than enough to survive and/or reproduce (Parker, 2000). The pattern of competition exhibited by both blowflies and M. domestica was scramble since there was a homogenous distribution of resources among the individuals that competed for food Godoy et al, 1993;Silva et al, 2003). In this sense, standard deviations seemed to exhibit an apparently small magnitude in response to the kind of food distribution.…”

“…The absence of change of dynamic behavior observed in M. domestica suggested that the species tended to keep a monotonic stable dynamics. Prout's model has also been used to understand the dynamics of three invader blowfly species, C. megacephala, C. putoria and C. albiceps, and two native species, C. macellaria and Lucilia eximia Von Zuben et al, 1993;Godoy et al, 1996;Reis et al, 1996;Godoy et al, 1997;Teixeira et al, 1998;Silva et al, 1999;Godoy et al, 2001;Silva et al, 2003).…”

Lucilia sericata strain from Colombia: Experimental Colonization, Life Tables and Evaluation of Two Artifcial Diets of the Blowfy Lucilia sericata (Meigen) (Diptera: Calliphoridae), Bogotá, Colombia Strain

“…This value indicates the maximum number of individuals added by a female to the population in a given time unit; this value was similar to that achieved by Abou-Zeid et al, (2003), who determined a value of λ=1.27 days for L. cuprina. With this same parameter, Silva et al (2003) reported values of λ= -0.513 and -0.98 for L. eximia and C. macellaria, respectively. These values are lower than those recorded in the present work.…”