Hostname: page-component-76fb5796d-qxdb6 Total loading time: 0 Render date: 2024-04-28T19:44:30.060Z Has data issue: false hasContentIssue false
  • English
  • Français

Biological control of house flies Musca domestica and stable flies Stomoxys calcitrans (Diptera: Muscidae) by means of inundative releases of Spalangia cameroni (Hymenoptera: Pteromalidae)

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  09 March 2007

H. Skovgård  and
G. Nachman
H. Skovgård*
Affiliation:
Danish Institute of Agricultural Sciences, Research Centre Sorgenfri, Pest Infestation Laboratory, Skovbrynet 14, DK 2800 Lyngby, Denmark
G. Nachman
Affiliation:
Department of Population Ecology, Zoological Institute, University of Copenhagen, Universitetsparken 15, DK 2100 Copenhagen Ø, Denmark
*
*Fax: +45 45931155 E-mail: Henrik.Skovgaard@agrsci.dk
Get access Rights & Permissions [Opens in a new window]

Abstract

The efficacy of the pupal parasitoid Spalangia cameroni Perkins as a biological control agent was tested against house flies Musca domestica Linnaeus and stable flies Stomoxys calcitrans (Linnaeus) in one dairy cattle and two pig installations in Denmark. Weekly releases of S. cameroni from April through to September–October 1999 and 2000 resulted in significant suppressions of house fly populations to below nuisance level, whereas no effect on stable flies was found. Parasitism was significantly higher in the release years compared to the control years, but was below 25% averaged over the fly season for each farm. A statistical model based on a functional relationship between the innate capacity of increase of the two fly species and three explanatory variables (air temperature, fly density and parasitism) provided a fairly good fit to data with the abundances of house flies and stable flies explained mostly by temperature, but intra- and interspecific competition, and parasitism had a significant effect as well. Overall, the model was capable of explaining 14% and 6.6% of the total variation in data for house fly and stable fly, respectively. Spalangia cameroni was the predominant parasitoid to emerge from exposed house fly pupae, but from mid summer onwards Muscidifurax raptor Girault & Sanders (Hymenoptera: Pteromalidae) was also quite common. The study indicated that biological control of house flies can be an efficient alternative to chemical control.

Type
Research Article
Information
Bulletin of Entomological Research , Volume 94 , Issue 6 , December 2004 , pp. 555 - 567
Copyright
Copyright © Cambridge University Press 2004

Access options

Get access to the full version of this content by using one of the access options below. (Log in options will check for institutional or personal access. Content may require purchase if you do not have access.)

References

Ables, J.R. & Shepard, M. (1974) Responses and competition of the parasitoids Spalangia endius and Muscidifurax raptor (Hymenoptera: Pteromalidae) at different densities of house fly pupae. Canadian Entomologist 106, 825–830.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Axtell, R.C. (1986) Status and potential of biological control agents in livestock and poultry pest management systems. pp. 1–9 in Patterson, R.S. & Rutz, D.A. (Eds). Biological control of muscoid flies. Entomological Society of America, Miscellaneous Publication 61.Google Scholar
Axtell, R.C. & Rutz, D.A. (1986) Role of parasites and predators as biological fly control agents in poultry production facilities. pp. 88–100 in Patterson, R.S. & Rutz., D.A. (Eds) Biological control of muscoid flies. Entomological Society of America, Miscellaneous Publication 61.Google Scholar
Barbosa, P. (1998) Conservation biological control. San Diego, California Academic Press.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Bellows, T.S. & Fisher, T.W. (1999) Handbook of biological control: principles and applications of biological control. London, Academic Press.Google Scholar
Birch, L.C. (1948) The intrinsic rate of natural increase of an insect population. Journal of Animal Ecology 17, 15–26.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
DeBach, P. & Rosen, D. (1991) Biological control by natural enemies. 440 pp.CambridgeCambridge University Press.Google Scholar
De Bach, P., Rosen, D. & Kennett, C.E. (1971) Biological control of coccids by introduced natural enemies. pp. 165–194 in Huffaker, C.B. (ed). Biological control. New York and London, Plenum Press.Google Scholar
Filipponi, A. & Petrelli, M.G. (1966) L“innata capacita” di incremento numerico di Musca domestica L. Rivista di Parassitologia 27, 235–260.Google Scholar
Geden, C.J. (1997) Development models for the filth fly parasitoids Spalangia gemina, S. cameroni, and Muscidifurax raptor (Hymenoptera: Pteromalidae) under constant and variable temperatures. Biological Control 9, 185–192.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Geden, C.J. (1999) Host location by house fly (Diptera: Muscidae) parasitoids in poultry manure at different moisture levels and host densities. Environmental Entomology 28, 755–760.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Geden, C.J. (2002) Effect of habitat depth on host location by five species of parasitoids (Hymenoptera: Pteromalidae, Chalcididae) of house flies (Diptera: Muscidae) in three types of substrates. Environmental Entomology 31, 411–417.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Greene, G.L. (1990) Biological control of filth flies in confined cattle feedlots using pteromalid parasites. pp. 29–42 in Rutz, D.A., Patterson, R.S.Biological control of arthropods affecting livestock and poultry. Boulder, Colorado Westview.Google Scholar
Hawkins, B.A. & Cornell, H.V. (1999) Theoretical approaches to biological control. Cambridge, Cambridge University Press.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Hocking, R.R. (1976) The analysis and selection of variables in linear regression. Biometrics 32 1–49.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Huffaker, C.B. (1971) Biological control. Proceeding of an AAAS symposium on biological control, Boston, Massachusetts 30–31 December, 1969. New York and London, Plenum Press.Google Scholar
Jones, C.J. & Weinzierl, R.A. (1997) Geographical and temporal variation in pteromalid (Hymenoptera: Pteromalidae) parasitism of stable fly and house fly (Diptera: Muscidae) pupae collected from Illinois cattle feedlots. Environmental Entomology 26, 421–432.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Keiding, J. (1986) The housefly. 61 pp. World Health Organization (WHO), 86.937.Google Scholar
Keiding, J. (1999) Review of the global status and recent development of insecticide resistance in field populations of the house fly, Musca domestica (Diptera: Muscidae). Bulletin of Entomological Research 89 (Suppl. 1) S9–S67.Google Scholar
Kristiansen, K. & Skovmand, O. (1985) A method for the study of population size and survival rate of houseflies. Entomologia Experimentalis et Applicata 38, 145–150.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Legner, E.F. (1977) Temperature, humidity and depth of habitat influencing host destruction and fecundity of muscoid fly parasites. Entomophaga 22, 199–206.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Legner, E.F. (1995) Biological control of Diptera of medical and veterinary importance. Journal of Vector Ecology 20, 59–120.Google Scholar
Legner, E.F. & Brydon, H.W. (1966) Suppression of dung-inhabiting fly populations by pupal parasites. Annals of the Entomological Society of America 59, 638–651.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Luck, R.F. & Dahlsten, D.L. (1975) Natural decline of a pine needle scale (Chionaspis pinifoliae [Fitch]), outbreak at South Lake Tahoe, California following cessation of adult mosquito control with malathion. Ecology 56, 893–904.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Lysyk, T.J. (1998) Relationships between temperature and life-history parameters of Stomoxys calcitrans (Diptera: Muscidae). Journal of Medical Entomology 35, 107–119.Google Scholar
Lysyk, T.J. & Axtell, R.C. (1987) A simulation model of house fly (Diptera: Muscidae) development in poultry manure. Canadian Entomologist 119, 427–437.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Mandeville, J.D. & Mullens, B.A. (1990) Host preference and learning in Muscidifurax zaraptor (Hymenoptera: Pteromalidae). Annals of the Entomological Society of America 83, 1203–1209.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Mann, J.A., Axtell, R.C. & Stinner, R.E. (1990) Temperature-dependent development and parasitism rates of four species of Pteromalidae (Hymenoptera) parasitoids of house fly (Musca domestica) pupae. Medical and Veterinary Entomology 4, 245–253.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
McPheron, L.J. & Broce, A.B. (1996) Environmental components of pupariation-site selection by the stable fly (Diptera: Muscidae). Environmental Entomology 25, 665–671.Google Scholar
Meyer, J.A., Georghiou, G.P. & Hawley, M.K. (1987) House fly resistance to permethrin on southern California dairies. Journal of Economic Entomology 80, 636–640.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Meyer, J.A., Shultz, T.A., Collar, C. & Mullens, B.A. (1991) Relative abundance of stable fly and house fly (Diptera: Muscidae) pupal parasites (Hymenoptera: Pteromalidae; Coleoptera: Staphylinidae) on confinement dairies in California. Environmental Entomology 20, 915–921.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Miller, R.W., Rutz, D.A., Pickens, L.G. & Geden, C.J. (1993) Evaluation of traps and the parasitoid Muscidifurax raptor Girault and Sanders to manage house flies and stable flies on dairy farms. Journal of Agricultural Entomology 10, 9–19.Google Scholar
Morgan, P.B. (1980) Sustained releases of Spalangia endius (Hymenoptera: Pteromalidae) for the control of Musca domestica L. and Stomoxys calcitrans (L.) (Diptera: Muscidae). Journal of the Kansas Entomological Society 53, 367–372.Google Scholar
Morgan, P.B., Patterson, R.S., LaBrecque, G.C., Weidhaas, D.E. & Benton, A. (1975) Suppression of a field population of houseflies with Spalangia endius. Science 189, 388–389.Google Scholar
Morgan, P.B., Weidhaas, D.E. & Patterson, R.S. (1981) Host–parasite relationship: augmentative releases of Spalangia endius Walker used in conjunction with population modeling to suppress field populations of Musca domestica L. (Hymenoptera: Pteromalidae and Diptera: Muscidae). Journal of the Kansas Entomological Society 54, 496–504.Google Scholar
Petersen, J.J. & Meyer, J.A. (1983) Host preference and seasonal distribution of pteromalid parasites (Hymenoptera: Pteromalidae) of stable flies and house flies (Diptera: Muscidae) associated with confined livestock in eastern Nebraska. Environmental Entomology 12, 567–571.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Petersen, J.J. & Meyer, J.A. (1985) Evaluation of methods presently used for measuring parasitism of stable flies and house flies (Diptera: Muscidae) by pteromalid wasps (Hymenoptera: Pteromalidae). Journal of the Kansas Entomological Society 58, 84–90.Google Scholar
Petersen, J.J., Meyer, J.A., Stage, D.A. & Morgan, P.B. (1983) Evaluation of sequential releases of Spalangia endius (Hymenoptera: Pteromalidae) for control of house flies and stable flies (Diptera: Muscidae) associated with confined livestock in eastern Nebraska. Journal of Economic Entomology 76, 283–286.Google Scholar
Pospischil, R., Szomm, K., Londershausen, M., Schröder, I., Turberg, A. & Fuchs, R. (1996) Multiple resistance in the larger house fly Musca domestica in Germany. Pesticide Science 48, 333–341.Google Scholar
Propp, G.D. & Morgan, P.B. (1985) Effect of host distribution on parasitism of housefly (Diptera: Muscidae) pupae by Spalangia spp. and Muscidifurax raptor (Hymenoptera: Pteromalidae). Canadian Entomologist 117, 515–524.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Rutz, D.A. (1986) Parasitoid monitoring and impact evaluation in the development of filth fly biological control programs for poultry farms. pp. 45–51 in Patterson, R.S. & Rutz, D.A. (Eds) Biological control of muscoid flies. Entomological Society of America, Miscellaneous Publication 61.Google Scholar
Rutz, D.A. & Axtell, R.C. (1979) Sustained releases of Muscidifurax raptor (Hymenoptera: Pteromalidae) for house fly (Musca domestica) control in two types of caged-layer poultry houses. Environmental Entomology 8, 1105–1110.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Rutz, D.A. & Axtell, R.C. (1981) House fly (Musca domestica) control in broiler-breeder poultry houses by pupal parasites (Hymenoptera: Pteromalidae): indigenous parasite species and releases of Muscidifurax raptor. Environmental Entomology 10, 343–345.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
SAS Institute. (1999) SAS user's guide: statistics. SAS Institute, Cary, North Carolina.Google Scholar
Skovgård, H. (2004) Sustained releases of the pupal parasitoid Spalangia cameroni (Hymenoptera: Pteromalidae) for control of house flies, Musca domestica and stable flies Stomoxys calcitrans (Diptera: Muscidae) on dairy farms in Denmark. Biological Control 30, 288–297.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Skovgård, H. & Jespersen, J.B. (1999) Activity and relative abundance of hymenopterous parasitoids that attack puparia of Musca domestica and Stomoxys calcitrans (Diptera: Muscidae) on confined pig and cattle farms in Denmark. Bulletin of Entomological Research 89, 263–269.Google Scholar
Skovgård, H. & Jespersen, J.B. (2000) Seasonal and spatial activity of hymenopterous pupal parasitoids (Pteromalidae and Ichneumonidae) of the house fly (Diptera: Muscidae) on Danish pig and cattle farms. Environmental Entomology 29, 630–637.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Smith, L. & Rutz, D.A. (1991) Microhabitat associations of hymenopterous parasitoids that attack house fly pupae at dairy farms in Central New York. Environmental Entomology 20, 675–684.Google Scholar
Stafford, K.C. & III., Bay D.E. (1994) Dispersion statistics and sample size estimates for house fly (Diptera: Muscidae) larvae and Macrocheles muscaedomesticae (Acari: Macrochelidae) in poultry manure. Journal of Medical Entomology 31, 732–737.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Tobin, P.C. & Pitts, C.W. (2002) Geostatistical analysis and the impact of moisture on the spatial and temporal distribution of larval Musca domestica (Diptera: Muscidae). Environmental Entomology 31, 273–280.Google Scholar
Wylie, H.G. (1972) Larval competition among three hymenopterous parasite species on multiparasitized housefly (Diptera) pupae. Canadian Entomologist 104, 1181–1190.CrossRefGoogle Scholar