Effects of temperature and diet quality in stable fly (Stomoxys calcitrans) development

Stable flies are recognized as important blood feeding ectoparasites of livestock worldwide. Their painful bites affect animal performance, decreasing feed efficiency, weight gain, and milk production. Historically, this pest has been associated with confined cattle. However, in last decades it has become a significant pest for grazing cattle in the United States (Campbell et al. 2001). A possible reason is the changes in cattle management during winter. Cattle producers have adopted a new method for providing hay for pasture cattle in winter, through stationary feeders (Broce et al. 2005). Wasted hay around the feeders combine with manure and urine becoming a perfect developmental substrate for stable flies the following spring, and considered a primary source of stable flies in Central U.S. (Broce et al. 2005, Talley 2008, Taylor and Berkebile 2011). Nonetheless, recent studies have found flies trapped by emergence traps placed around stationary feeders to be larger than those collected on sticky traps (Taylor, Unpublished), suggesting that the other sources are contributing significantly to stable fly populations. Stable flies developmental rate may vary with the quality of the larval substrate and size may be an indicator of this parameter (Albuquerque and Zurek 2014). Therefore, a better understanding of the effects of substrate quality on size and developmental rate, may improve our ability to elucidate the population dynamics of stable flies in the Great Plains. Objectives are to analyze the effects of temperature and diet quality in the development of stable flies, using five temperatures 15, 20, 25, 30, and 35 °C and four diets containing different amounts of nutrients. This study helps to enlighten the population dynamic of stable flies in Central of U.S.

 

References

Albuquerque, T. a., and L. Zurek. 2014. Temporal changes in the bacterial community of animal feces and their correlation with stable fly oviposition, larval development, and adult fitness. Front. Microbiol. 5.

Broce, A. B., J. Hogsette, and S. Paisley. 2005. Winter Feeding Sites of Hay in Round Bales as Major Developmental Sites of Stomoxys calcitrans (Diptera: Muscidae) in Pastures in Spring and Summer. J. Econ. Entomol. 98: 2307–2312.

Campbell, J. B., S. R. Skoda, D. R. Berkebile, D. J. Boxler, G. D. Thomas, D. C. Adams, and R. Davis. 2001. Effects of stable flies (Diptera: Muscidae) on weight gains of grazing yearling cattle. J. Econ. Entomol. 94: 780–3.

Talley, J. L. 2008. Management and characterization of stable fly larval habits at round bale feeding sites in pastures.

Taylor, D. B., and D. R. Berkebile. 2011. Phenology of stable fly (Diptera: Muscidae) larvae in round bale hay feeding sites in eastern Nebraska. Popul. Ecol. 40: 184–193.