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  • Publication
    Accès libre
    Sensory and behavioural responses of the stable fly Stomoxys calcitrans to rumen volatiles
    Analysis of volatiles from rumen digesta by gas chromatography linked antennogram recordings from Stomoxys calcitrans (L) (Diptera: Muscidae) antennal receptor cells revealed about 30 electrophysiologically active constituents, the most important of which is dimethyl trisulphide with a sensory threshold in the femtogram range. The behavioural responses of S. calcitrans to five chemostimulants (dimethyl trisulphide, butanoic acid, p-cresol, oct-1-en-3-ol and skatole) were tested in a wind tunnel where activation and attraction of hungry flies to rumen volatiles were recorded. Dimethyl trisulphide, butanoic acid and p-cresol were found to attract S. calcitrans. This sensitivity to rumen volatile constituents, that also occur in animal wastes used for oviposition by Stomoxys spp., as well as in flowers used by stable flies as sources of nectar is discussed in the context of the behavioural ecology of these flies.
  • Publication
    Accès libre
    Chemostimuli implicated in selection of oviposition substrates by the stable fly Stomoxys calcitrans
    Horse and cow dung were tested as substrates for oviposition by the stable fly Stomoxys calcitrans (L) (Diptera: Muscidae) in laboratory cages. Odour alone from either horse or cow dung was sufficient to attract flies for oviposition. This was confirmed in wind tunnel experiments, where both horse and cow dung were shown to attract gravid stable flies. However, when S. calcitrans was offered a choice between these two oviposition substrates, flies always chose horse dung over cow dung, both when allowed to contact the substrates and when relying on dung odour alone. Analyses of volatile compounds emanating from horse and cow dung by gas chromatography linked antennogram recordings from S. calcitrans antennae revealed no differences in the chemostimuli released from the two substrates. The predominant chemostimulant compounds in both substrates were carboxylic acids (butanoic acid), alcohols (oct-1-en-3-ol), aldehydes (decanal), ketones (octan-3-one), phenols (p-cresol), indoles (skatole), terpenes (β-caryophyllene) and sulphides (dimethyl trisulphide). Higher levels (20–40 p.p.m.) of carbon dioxide were recorded over horse dung compared with cow dung, a factor that may contribute to the preference exhibited by S. calcitrans for this substrate for oviposition.