Analyses of different artificial diets to grow Musca domestica L. under laboratory conditions

TORRES M.J. ; FLORES ROCHA, V.; ALONSO DE GORUSTOVICH, M.; AUDISIO, M.C.

Tafí del Valle, Tucumán, Argentina

Jornada; XXVll Jornadas Científicas; 2010

Asociación de Biología de Tucumán

The house fly is an important vector of pathogens, so knowing its life cycle, a stratefy of biocontrol can be achieved. The aim of this work was to select a reliable and economical diet for the development of a cohort of Musca domestica L. in the laboratory. Three different diets were assayed: milk diet (MiD): wheat bran plus whole milk powder; alfalfa diet (AD): wheat bran, yeast, alfalfa and malt extract, and molasses diet (MoD): wheat bran, whole milk powder, molasses and salts. The following parameters were studied: total life cycle, longevity of larvae, pupae and adults,% pupation and adult emergence, length /diameter /weight of pupae at 96 hrs-old at 65 ± 1% humidity and 26 ± 1ºC temperature, in quadruplicate. It was determined that the 3 diets produced a 33 days cycle and the longevity of larvae and pupae was close to 7 days. The maximum % of pupation was reached at 12th day (80%, 60% and 46% fo MiD, AD and MoD, respectively). The length, diameter and weight of pupae of 96 hrs-old was similar for MiD and AD, but lower for MoD. The maximum % of adult emergence was 45%, 18% and 42% for MiD, AD and MoD, between the 15th and 17th day. The longevity of adults was similar among diets (19 days) as well as death kinetics. MiD was chosen for the housefly breeding due to its low cost and reliability.