The origin of sheep blowfly,Lucilia cuprina(Wiedemann) (Diptera: Calliphoridae), attractants in media infested with larvae

Abstract

Laboratory bioassays with gravid females of Lucilia cuprina (Wiedemann) were used to isolate the source(s) of olfactory attractants emanating from larvae-infested media. Adults were not attracted by odours from axenic (micro-organism-free) larvae, but volatiles from xenic larvae were highly attractive. The attractants proved to be kairomones not pheromones, as odours from other species of calliphorids and a sarcophagid species were also attractive. Axenic, proteinaceous media produced a low level of attractive volatiles, which was increased by the activities of axenic larvae growing on the media. A greater degree of attraction occurred to odours from xenic media, and this too was much increased by the actions of growing larvae. The order of attractiveness of such volatiles is therefore: xenic with larvae > > xenic without larvae > axenic with larvae > axenic without larvae. It is concluded that larvae-infested media owe their great attractiveness to the volatiles produced by the action of micro-organisms, not to specific larval volatiles. Larval activity accentuates the output of attractive volatiles from both xenic and axenic proteinaceous media, possibly due to the effects of digestive enzymes, pH changes, mechanical mixing, warming or aeration or a combination of some or all of these factors.

Female breeding-site preferences and larval feeding strategies of carrion-breeding Calliphoridae and Sarcophagidae (Diptera): a quantitative analysis

“…Females can frequently be observed walking over carcasses, probing with their labellae and ovipositors (personal observation), and it is probable that they are examining the carcass for a suitable breeding site. The presence of water, egg masses of other females, and albuminous protein are known to stimulate oviposition in blow flies (Barton-Browne 1958, 1962Erzinçlioglu 1996), and microbial products associated with feeding maggots also exert an attractive effect on gravid L. cuprina (Eisemann and Rice 1987).…”

Proteus mirabilis interkingdom swarming signals attract blow flies

“…Mechanisms used by arthropods to locate resources vital for their reproduction have been widely investigated (Eisemann and Rice, 1987;Eisemann, 1988;Easton and Feir, 1991;Thomas, 1991;Tessmer et al, 1995). In the case of blow flies, volatile organic compounds released by bacteria are the primary mechanism governing their attraction, acceptance and colonization of such resources (Eisemann and Rice, 1987;Chaudhury et al, 2002Chaudhury et al, , 2010Morris, 2005).…”

“…In the case of blow flies, volatile organic compounds released by bacteria are the primary mechanism governing their attraction, acceptance and colonization of such resources (Eisemann and Rice, 1987;Chaudhury et al, 2002Chaudhury et al, , 2010Morris, 2005). However, no one has demonstrated the role of these volatile compounds in the ecology of the bacteria from which they are released.…”

Orientation by gravid Australian sheep blowflies, Lucilia cuprina (Diptera: Calliphoridae), to fleece and synthetic chemical attractants in laboratory bioassays

“…Assays were performed using the laboratory cages and traps described by Eisemann & Rice (1987). In experiments in which only fleece was tested, a 10 g sample was placed on the floor of each trap.…”

“…In each trial, two treatments, each represented in two traps set on the floor of a laboratory cage at opposite corners of a square of side approximately 28 cm, were compared for attractiveness to 95-105 experimentally naive, liver-fed, female L. cuprina, 8-11 d post-eclosion, from a laboratory culture (Eisemann & Rice, 1987). Groups of experimental L. cuprina were added to an assay cage on the day of the trial, and the four traps were then introduced between 09.00 and 11.00 h. Each cage was left for 3-6 h in a controlled-environment room at 25 + 1.5°C and 4 0 + 10% r.h., under fluorescent strip lights giving 120-300 lux at floor level in the cages.…”