Entomologia Experimentalis et Applicata (2009) 133, 292-295

Kevin Lam, Christine Geisreiter and Gerhard Gries (2009)
Ovipositing female house flies provision offspring larvae with bacterial food
Entomologia Experimentalis et Applicata 133 (3), 292-295
Abstract: Symbiotic bacteria on house fly eggs, Musca domestica L. (Diptera: Muscidae), provide ovipositional cues for conspecific female flies and curtail the growth of fungi that compete with fly larval offspring for resources. Because bacteria are also essential dietary constituents for developing larvae, we tested the hypothesis that egg-derived bacteria support development of larvae to adults. From house fly eggs, we isolated and identified 12 strains of bacteria, eight and four of which were previously shown to induce and inhibit oviposition, respectively. When larvae were provisioned with a total dose of 10⁶-10⁷ colony-forming units of bacteria from either the oviposition-inducing or inhibiting group, or from both groups together, significantly more larvae completed development. Thus, egg-associated bacteria could be a fail-safe mechanism that ensures a bacterial food supply for larval offspring, particularly if the resource selected by parent females is poor in bacterial food.
(The abstract is excluded from the Creative Commons licence and has been copied with permission by the publisher.)
Link to article at publishers website
Database assignments for author(s): Gerhard Gries

Research topic(s) for pests/diseases/weeds:
general biology - morphology - evolution
environment - cropping system/rotation

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Pest and/or beneficial records:

Beneficial	Pest/Disease/Weed	Crop/Product	Country	Quarant.
	Musca domestica