Examining house fly (Musca domestica L.) attraction to volatile compounds identified from honeydew collected from citrus and faba bean plants

Filth flies, such as house flies, are pests of public health and veterinary importance. They live in urban and agricultural areas with close association to manure and decomposing waste, where they can acquire pathogens such as Escherichia coli O157:H7, Salmonella spp., and Campylobacter spp. House flies may pose a food safety risk by acquiring food-borne pathogens at animal facilities, where manure is commonly produced, then dispersing to nearby human food crops, on which flies may deposit these pathogens through regurgitation and defecation. Honeydew is a sugary substance produced by plant-sucking insects which are attractive to house flies. Its presence on a food crop may lead to flies landing on the honeydew and contaminating the crop. Volatile chemical compounds produced by fly-attractive honeydew samples were identified and examined for house fly attraction in an outdoor environment. Some of the compounds identified were attractive to the starved house flies. Identification of new attractive volatile chemical compounds is important for improved fly management strategies and will add to the body of knowledge for house fly behaviors.