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Attraction of the sheep blowfly, Lucilia sericata (Diptera: Calliphoridae) to carrion bait in the field

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  10 July 2009

P. Fisher ,
R. Wall  and
J.R. Ashworth
P. Fisher
Affiliation:
School of Biological Sciences, University of Bristol, Woodland Road, Bristol, BS8 1UG, UK
R. Wall*
Affiliation:
School of Biological Sciences, University of Bristol, Woodland Road, Bristol, BS8 1UG, UK
J.R. Ashworth
Affiliation:
School of Biological Sciences, University of Bristol, Woodland Road, Bristol, BS8 1UG, UK
*
*Fax: 0117 925 7374 E-mail: [email protected]
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Abstract

The facultative ectoparasite, Lucilia sericata (Meigen) has been described as a pioneer colonizer of carrion. This behaviour is believed to enable it to escape the intense interspecific competition which can occur between dipterous larvae within carrion. Such escape is necessary as this fly species has been thought to have reduced competitive ability, resulting from its evolutionary progression towards parasitism. In the work reported here, the attraction of L. sericata to carrion bait at different stages of decomposition (fresh to 28 days old) was investigated in the field. Trials were run over three years, with carrion bait presented in the presence and absence of sodium sulphide. Decomposition had a significant effect on the numbers of L. sericata caught; more decomposed bait caught greater numbers of L. sericata than fresh bait. However, this effect was not apparent if sodium sulphide was added to the carrion. With sodium sulphide added, there was no significant difference in the attraction of female L. sericata, regardless of bait age. There was no general relationship between carrion bait age and the number of female L. sericata caught in different stages of ovarian development. The present data, therefore, suggest that L. sericata does not act exclusively as a pioneer species. Furthermore, this work suggests that, if used with sodium sulphide, the stage of carrion bait decomposition does not significantly modify carrion bait attractiveness.

Type
Original Articles
Information
Bulletin of Entomological Research , Volume 88 , Issue 6 , December 1998 , pp. 611 - 616
Copyright
Copyright © Cambridge University Press 1998

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