The house fly, Musca domestica, and the black garbage fly, Hydrotaea anescens, are important pests in livestock and poultry systems. Monitoring methods determine when the pest populations reach economic proportions. This study was undertaken to examine the seasonal abundance and sex ratio of M. domestica and H. anescens in turkey facilities. Fly populations were monitored during five grow-out periods over the course of 16 months. Total fly population represented by sticky ribbon counts were highly correlated with the spot card counts. The correlations of spot cards to fly sepcies were not as pronounced in the black garbage fly population when compared with the house fly. Spot card correlation with sticky ribbon counts was similar in both sexes of filth flies. When both house fly and black garbage fly data were pooled, males outnumbered females. Also, house flies outnumbering the black garbage flies with the population growth of black garbage flies lagging behind that of house flies. The relationship between both species and their sex ratios will be discussed in relation to turkey finishing houses.
Species 1: Diptera Muscidae Musca domestica (house fly)
Species 2: Diptera Muscidae Hydrotaea aenescens (black garbage fly)
Keywords: sex ratio
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