REDUCTION IN THE NUTRITIONAL REQUIREMENTS FOR OÖGENESIS DUE TO HIGH CONCENTRATIONS OF CHOLESTEROL IN THE LARVAL DIET OF THE STABLE FLY, STOMOXYS CALCITRANS (DIPTERA: MUSCIDAE)

1984 ◽  
Vol 116 (6) ◽  
pp. 801-804
Author(s):  
Loo-Sar Chia ◽  
James A. Baxter ◽  
Paul E. Morrison

AbstractFemale stable flies, Stomoxys calcitrans (L.), from larvae reared on the standard CSMA (Chemical Specialties Manufacturing Association) medium required 5 days of blood feeding before producing their first batch of eggs. When the larval medium was supplemented with 1 or 2% cholesterol, resultant females were able to produce mature eggs after only 4 days of blood feeding. Females from larvae reared on the 2% cholesterol-supplemented medium had slight but significant precocious follicular growth at the time of emergence from the puparium. When blood feeding was restricted, the size at which follicular growth ceased was consistently higher in females fed the cholesterol-supplemented diets as compared with control females.

1982 ◽  
Vol 60 (8) ◽  
pp. 1917-1921 ◽  
Author(s):  
Loo Sar Chia ◽  
James A. Baxter ◽  
Paul E. Morrison

Female stable flies, Stomoxys calcitrans (L.), fed blood at 24-h intervals, required five blood meals to produce their first batch of eggs. The first three blood meals mainly promoted growth of the adult fat body but the latter two meals resulted in rapid ovarian growth accompanied by a decline in fat body weight. Thus, the lack of gonotrophic concordance in these flies can probably be attributed to a shortage of reserves carried over from the larval stage. Ovariectomy at emergence resulted in hypertrophy of the adult fat body in blood-fed females, indicating that the ovary regulates the flow of nutrients from the fat body during vitellogenesis.


2021 ◽  
Vol 12 ◽  
Author(s):  
Simon K. Tawich ◽  
Joel L. Bargul ◽  
Daniel Masiga ◽  
Merid N. Getahun

Stomoxys calcitrans (stable fly) is a cosmopolitan biting fly of both medical and veterinary importance. Unlike blood-feeding-related behavior of stable fly, its plant feeding, the fitness value, and the S. calcitrans–plant interaction are less understood. Here we show based on two chloroplast DNA genes, ribulose bisphosphate carboxylase large chain (rbcL) and the intergenic spacer gene trnH-psbA, that field-collected male and female stable flies fed on various plant species. We investigated the fitness cost of plant feeding using Parthenium hysterophorus, one of the plant species identified to have been fed on by the field-collected flies. Supplementation of blood feeding with a flowering P. hysterophorus plant as nectar source enhanced egg hatchability significantly as compared to blood alone, showing the fitness value of nectar supplementation. However, nectar supplementation did not affect the number of eggs laid or longevity of S. calcitrans as compared to flies that fed on blood alone. S. calcitrans maintained on sugar alone failed to lay eggs. The various plants stable flies fed on demonstrated chemodiversity with their own signature scent. The behavioral response of S. calcitrans to these signature compounds varied from strong attraction (γ-terpinene) to neutral (linalool oxide and myrcene) to repellency (butanoic acid). Our study demonstrated that stable flies feed on nectar, and plant nectar supplementation of blood feeding enhanced larval emergence. Thus, our result has implication in stable fly reproduction, survival, disease transmission, boosting laboratory colony, and the possibility of using plant-derived odors for mass trapping of stable fly, for instance, using γ-terpinene.


Author(s):  
H. J. Kirch ◽  
G. Spates ◽  
R. Droleskey ◽  
W.J. Kloft ◽  
J.R. DeLoach

Blood feeding insects have to rely on the protein content of mammalian blood to insure reproduction. A substantial quantity of protein is provided by hemoglobin present in erythrocytes. Access to hemoglobin is accomplished only via erythrocyte lysis. It has been shown that midgut homogenates from the blood feeding stable fly, Stomoxys calcitrans, contain free fatty acids and it was proposed that these detergent-like compounds play a major role as hemolysins in the digestive physiology of this species. More recently sphingomyelinase activity was detected in midgut preparations of this fly, which would provide a potential tool for the enzymatic cleavage of the erythrocyte's membrane sphingomyelin. The action of specific hemolytic factors should affect the erythrocyte's morphology. The shape of bovine erythrocytes undergoing in vitro hemolysis by crude midgut homogenates from the stable fly was examined by scanning and transmission electron microscopy.


2006 ◽  
Vol 69 (3) ◽  
pp. 671-673 ◽  
Author(s):  
F. MRAMBA ◽  
A. BROCE ◽  
L. ZUREK

Enterobacter sakazakii is an opportunistic foodborne pathogen that causes meningitis, enterocolitis, and sepsis, primarily in immunocompromised infants. Previously, it was suggested that stable flies, Stomoxys calcitrans, were a vector or reservoir of this pathogen. In our study, by means of a culturing approach combined with 16S rDNA PCR–restriction fragment length polymorphism genotyping and sequencing, we screened 928 individual stable flies collected in Kansas and Florida. Two stable flies (0.2%) were positive for E. sakazakii. In addition, 411 (44%) stable flies carried bacteria-forming red colonies (presumably enterics) on a violet red bile glucose agar (mean count = 6.4 × 104 CFU per fly), and 120 (13%) stable flies carried fecal coliforms (mean count = 8.7 × 103 CFU per fly). Sequencing of 16S rDNA showed that enterics from violet red bile glucose agar were represented by several genera, including Escherichia, Shigella, Providencia, Enterobacter, Pantoea, Proteus, Serratia, and Morganella. Our study shows that stable flies carry bacteria typically present in animal manure (a developmental site of stable fly larvae), which indicates that the natural reservoir of E. sakazakii is the digestive tract or manure of domestic animals. The low prevalence of E. sakazakii associated with stable flies suggests that stable flies do not play a major role as a reservoir or vector of this pathogen.


1975 ◽  
Vol 107 (6) ◽  
pp. 597-600 ◽  
Author(s):  
G. C. LaBrecque ◽  
Donald L. Bailey ◽  
D. W. Meifert ◽  
D. E. Weidhaas

AbstractIn outdoor cage studies undertaken in the late summer of 1973, a method of estimating the absolute density of a stable fly (Stomoxys calcitrans (L.)) population was developed by correlating the average number of insects feeding or resting on a calf to the total number in the cage. Under the same cage conditions, where emigration, immigration, and to some extent, predation have been excluded, the daily mortality rate of normal stable flies marked with a fluorescent dye ranged from 25.3% to 27.3% dependent upon the sampling technique. Marker dyes have a deleterious effect on survival but surprisingly gamma irradiated flies succumbed at a lower rate than normal individuals.


Acarologia ◽  
2018 ◽  
Vol 59 (1) ◽  
pp. 3-11
Author(s):  
Jenő Kontschán ◽  
Sándor Hornok

The stable fly, Stomoxys calcitrans (L.) is a blood-sucking muscid fly species, with a worldwide distribution and high veterinary-medical importance. In this study, four mite species were collected from stable flies in Hungary. One mite species (Trichotrombidium muscarum (Riley, 1878)) from the family Microtrombidiidae was parasitic on the flies, collected in high numbers from their bodies. The other three species were found in small numbers on the flies, which they use only for transportation. The latter included the phoretic female of Pediculaster mesembrinae (Canestrini, 1881) (Acari: Siteroptidae), the phoretic deutonymph of the Halolaelaps sexclavatus (Oudemans, 1902) (Acari: Halolaelapidae) and Macrocheles subbadius (Berlese, 1904) (Acari: Macrochelidae). This is the first record of an association between the stable fly and two mite species (Trichotrombidium muscarum and Halolaelaps sexclavatus). A new, completed list and identification key of known stable fly associated mites are also provided.


2019 ◽  
Vol 112 (5) ◽  
pp. 2469-2473 ◽  
Author(s):  
Tracey L Tam ◽  
Jerome Hogsette ◽  
Saundra TenBroeck

Abstract The stable fly, Stomoxys calcitrans (L.), is a bloodsucking ectoparasite that causes irritation and distress to livestock, wildlife, and humans. Both sexes are vicious blood-feeders that feed on a variety of animals. Optically attractive sticky traps have been used to capture stable flies, and some companies claim that sticky traps can protect animals from the bites of stable flies. To further investigate the protective ability of sticky traps, Home and Garden Mosquito (HGM) traps were selected for evaluations at the University of Florida Horse Teaching Unit (HTU). Broodmares coated with fluorescent dust were either tethered to a post in the center of a paddock or released untethered into a paddock. HGM sticky traps were placed at the four compass points and four selected distances from the paddock center to capture stable flies before (unmarked) or after (marked) they visited the horses. More than 40% of flies captured on traps placed closest to the horses were marked. This indicates that the traps did not prevent the flies from visiting the horses. A percentage of marked and unmarked stable flies showed signs of blood in their guts indicating recent feeding. For unknown reasons, the number of stable flies marked with Signal Green dust exceeded the numbers marked with other colors. Although the HGM traps caught ample numbers of stable flies, the traps did not prevent stable flies from feeding on the horses. More work is needed to determine optimal trap placement and densities required to maximize stable fly management with traps.


2018 ◽  
Vol 5 (1) ◽  
Author(s):  
Carlos Ramón Bautista Garfias ◽  
Tania Rodríguez ◽  
Carmen Rojas ◽  
José J. Lira ◽  
Jesús A. Álvarez ◽  
...  

Data on the implication of the stable fly (Stomoxys calcitrans, Diptera: Mus­cidae), in the transmission of Anaplasma marginale in tick-free cattle is scarce. Hence, the objective of this investigation was to detect the presence of DNA from A. marginale in stable flies caught near a bovine herd, which has been maintained free of ticks for 40 years, and occasionally presents some clinical cases of anaplasmosis. Twenty-four batches of S. calcitrans (15 flies each) were collected in the morning and in the afternoon twice a week (except for one catch in one week of September and one catch in one week of December) during 12 catching days in a period of four months. Their DNA was obtained and analysed by nested PCR (nPCR) to identify the presence of A. marginale DNA. Seven of the batches (29.16 %) were pos­itive for A. marginale, as detected by an nPCR that targets the A. marginale msp5 gene. Similarly, in two out of 12 catching days (16.66 %), those S. calcitrans batches collected in the morning and in the afternoon, were pos­itive for A. marginale, while those S. calcitrans groups collected in three out of 12 catching days (25 %), were positive for the rickettsia. The obtained re­sults suggest that A. marginale transmission is carried out mechanically by S. calcitrans, favouring the circulation and maintenance of the microorganism in this particular bovine herd.


1991 ◽  
Vol 16 (2) ◽  
pp. 145-152 ◽  
Author(s):  
ANN ASCOLI-CHRISTENSEN ◽  
JAMES F. SUTCLIFFE ◽  
PAUL J. ALBERT

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