THE OVIPOSITIONAL RESPONSE OF THE AUSTRALIAN SHEEP BLOWFLY, LUCILIA CUPRINA, TO FLEECE-ROT ODOURS |
| |
| Authors: | J E Watts G C Merritt† B S Goodrich† |
| |
| Institution: | *Department of Agriculture, Veterinary Research Station, Glenfield, New South Wales, 2167;?Division of Animal Health, CSIRO McMaster Laboratory, Private Bag No. 1. P.O., Glebe, New South Wales, 2037;?Division of Wildlife Research, CSIRO, P.O. Box 52, North Ryde, New South Wales, 2113 |
| |
| Abstract: | SUMMARY The ovipositional response of Lucilia cuprina flies to odours emanating from fleece-rot lesions of greasy wool in which Pseudomonas aeruginosa bacteria proliferated, was studied. Fractionation of the fleece-rot odours was carried out by bubbling the volatile components through hydrochloric acid and sodium hydroxide solutions to remove basic odours and acidic odours respectively. It was found that the acidic/neutral odours of fleecerot wool, when perfused into wet, greasy wool, stimulated L. cuprina to oviposit. On the other hand, the basic/neutral odours of fleece-rot wool were virtually unattractive to the gravid fly. Similarly, the acidic/neutral odours emanating from fleece-rot lesions of clean wool from which the non-fibre components, wax, suint and epithelial debris, had been removed by scouring, were found to be unattractive to the gravid fly in choice tests. |
| |
| Keywords: | |
|
|
