Publication Date

2024

Document Type

Dissertation/Thesis

First Advisor

King, Bethia H.

Degree Name

M.S. (Master of Science)

Legacy Department

Department of Biological Sciences

Abstract

House flies (Musca domestica) are cosmopolitan pests to both humans and livestock, and they can vector many diseases. House flies are especially associated with livestock facilities, as adult flies lay eggs in rotting organic matter such as manure. While it is understood that the diet an adult fly receives can affect biological parameters such as longevity and egg production, not much research has been done to address foods that are accessible to house flies in their natural habitat. The present study examined the longevity, feeding behavior, and egg production rates of adult house flies given different foods they would have access to on an Illinois dairy farm. 1) Survivorship of male and female house flies was tested over 22 days when given one of six potential foods: sucrose, milk, corn silage, cattle manure, buckwheat inflorescences, or water alone. Longevity for male house flies given sucrose or milk was higher than longevity for males given water, but longevity with milk was lower than longevity with sucrose. There was no significant difference in longevity between either manure and water or silage and water. In a separate experiment, longevity for males given buckwheat was not significantly different from males given water. These patterns also held true for female house flies except for females given silage, which had higher survivorship than females given water and lower survivorship than females given sucrose. 2) Also tested was time spent feeding within a 10 minute period for male and female house flies given one of six foods: sucrose, corn silage, manure, dandelion inflorescences, white clover inflorescences, or buckwheat inflorescences. House flies spent more time feeding from sucrose, silage, dandelion, and buckwheat than they did manure or white clover. 3) Field observations were also run for four weeks in August on a local dairy farm, where house flies were observed landing on silage piles, manure piles, buckwheat inflorescences, and smartweed inflorescences. 4) Finally, egg production over 7 days was determined for colonies of house flies given one of four foods: sucrose, milk, silage, or buckwheat. Female flies given buckwheat produced less eggs per day than females given sucrose or milk, and the colonies feeding on buckwheat produced less eggs in total over 7 days than females given sucrose or milk. Further studies comparing wider arrays of foods, combinations of foods, and chemical analyses of the nutrient content of these foods would provide more context as to what nutrients are most essential to house flies.

Extent

57 pages

Language

en

Publisher

Northern Illinois University

Rights Statement

In Copyright

Rights Statement 2

NIU theses are protected by copyright. They may be viewed from Huskie Commons for any purpose, but reproduction or distribution in any format is prohibited without the written permission of the authors.

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