Comparison of Intrinsic Rate of Different House Fly Densities in a Simulated Condition: A Prediction for House Fly Population and Control Threshold

• Published in: Journal of medical entomology Vol. 54; no. 1; pp. 24 - 29
• Main Authors: Ong, Song-Quan, Ahmad, Hamdan, Jaal, Zairi, Rus, Adanan, Fadzlah, Fadhlina Hazwani Mohd
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: English
• Published: England Entomological Society of America 01.01.2017; Oxford University Press
• Subjects: capacity rate; control threshold; DEVELOPMENT, LIFE HISTORY; Flies; intrinsic rate; knee point; Musca domestica; Pest control; Pests; Population; Population changes; Population decline; Population growth; Poultry farming; Simulation; control threshold; capacity rate; intrinsic rate; knee point; Musca domestica
• ISSN: 0022-2585; 0022-2858; 1938-2928
• DOI: 10.1093/jme/tjw140

Determining the control threshold for a pest is common prior to initiating a pest control program; however, previous studies related to the house fly control threshold for a poultry farm are insufficient for determining such a threshold. This study aimed to predict the population changes of house fly population by comparing the intrinsic rate of increase (rm) for different house fly densities in a simulated system. This study first defined the knee points of a known population growth curve as a control threshold by comparing the rm of five densities of house flies in a simulated condition. Later, to understand the interactions between the larval and adult populations, the correlation between larval and adult capacity rate (rc) was studied. The rm values of 300- and 500-fly densities were significantly higher compared with the rm values at densities of 50 and 100 flies. This result indicated their representative indices as candidates for a control threshold. The rc of larval and adult populations were negatively correlated with densities of fewer than 300 flies; this implicated adult populations with fewer than 300 flies as declining while the larval population was growing; therefore, control approaches should focus on the immature stages. The results in the present study suggest a control threshold for house fly populations. Future works should focus on calibrating the threshold indices in field conditions.