Blowfly succession from possum (Trichosurus vulpecula) carrion in a sheep-farming zone
The significance of brushtail possum, Trichosurus vulpecula Kerr (Diprotodontia: Phalangeridae) carcasses to the succession and production of Diptera species and its relevance to fly strike management in Tasmania, Australia was examined. Calliphora stygia (Fabricius), Lucilia sericata (Meigen) and C...
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Published in | Medical and veterinary entomology Vol. 20; no. 4; pp. 445 - 452 |
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Main Authors | , , |
Format | Journal Article |
Language | English |
Published |
Oxford, UK
Oxford, UK : Blackwell Publishing Ltd
01.12.2006
Blackwell Publishing Ltd |
Subjects | |
Online Access | Get full text |
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Summary: | The significance of brushtail possum, Trichosurus vulpecula Kerr (Diprotodontia: Phalangeridae) carcasses to the succession and production of Diptera species and its relevance to fly strike management in Tasmania, Australia was examined. Calliphora stygia (Fabricius), Lucilia sericata (Meigen) and Calliphora vicina Robineau-Desvoidy (Diptera: Calliphoridae) were found to be the most abundant and Lucilia cuprina (Wiedemann) (Diptera: Calliphoridae) always the least abundant (< 1%) of the putative primary fly invading species to emerge. Carcasses that were left for up to 15 days in the field before being exposed to flies for 2 days also acted as breeding sites for large numbers of all primary fly species, with the exception of L. cuprina. Ordination analysis revealed no relationship between possum carcasses according to their length of exposure but did show significant negative associations between the number of putative secondary invaders (Chrysomya rufifacies (Macquart) (Diptera: Calliphoridae), Chrysomya varipes (Macquart) (Diptera: Calliphoridae) and putative tertiary flies (Hydrotaea rostrata Robineau-Desvoidy (Diptera: Muscidae)) to the number of C. vicina or C. stygia to emerge. There was enormous variability in the numbers of secondary/tertiary fly species to emerge from carcasses (0-11 450) that negatively correlated with the proportion of all flies to emerge that were primary, and with the mean size of adult L. sericata. Although carcass temperatures, especially those with a large larval population, were elevated, this did not appear to result in significant pre-adult fly mortality. The most important primary fly strike species L. cuprina was only found in insignificant numbers, whereas three other members of the fly strike fauna C. stygia, L. sericata and Ch. rufifacies did use possum carrion as an important breeding resource, but left implications for fly strike management inconclusive. |
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Bibliography: | http://dx.doi.org/10.1111/j.1365-2915.2006.00654.x ark:/67375/WNG-67GT7JTK-V istex:7D4EC3DE3271E8DA772C1ADE9A6CF1486756C7D5 ArticleID:MVE654 ObjectType-Article-1 SourceType-Scholarly Journals-1 ObjectType-Feature-2 content type line 23 |
ISSN: | 0269-283X 1365-2915 |
DOI: | 10.1111/j.1365-2915.2006.00654.x |