Semiochemical-mediated oviposition in house fly, Musca domestica (L.), (Diptera: Muscidae).

摘要

Female houseflies, Musca domestica (L.) (Diptera: Muscidae), use transient, natural resources for oviposition, such as decaying organic material. Optimal exploitation of these ephemeral resources may require rapid colonization with larval densities sufficient to suppress microorganisms that compete for the same resource. Yet, overcrowding of these resources may cause severe intraspecific competition resulting in fewer and/or smaller flies completing development. I tested the hypothesis that oviposition by female M. domestica is mediated by semiochemicals, and "if so" that detection of these semiochemicals have fitness consequences for ovipositing females. In bioassay experiments with laboratory-reared M. domestica , 50 gravid 6-day-old female flies (together with 50 males of identical age) per replicate were offered 2 choices of oviposition sites, with one site left untreated (control) and the other site treated with water extract of egg masses (∼0.8--0.9 grams) aged 0--24 h before extraction. Significantly more females visited and more eggs were laid on oviposition sites treated with extracts of egg masses 0- to 8-h-old than on control oviposition sites. (Abstract shortened by UMI.)