| Olfactory and growth responses of Lucilia sericata to rearing diets at laboratory conditions |
| Paper ID : 1242-3IICE (R1) |
| Authors: |
|
Mohammad Saaid Dayer *1, Golnaz Noori2 1Tarbiat Modares University, Faculty of Medical sciences, Department of Parasitology and Medical Entomology 2Department of Parasitology and Medical Entomology, Faculty of Medical Sciences, Tarbiat Modares University |
| Abstract: |
| Introduction: The use of blowfly larvae for necrotic tissue removal and wound healing has long history in medicine as maggot therapy. It proves effective in painless debridement of chronic wounds and necrotic tissues particularly large wound such as those in diabetic patients. Given its medical application, the improvement of rearing condition of L. sericata has been of growing interest in recent years. This work aimed to study the responses of the blowfly to olfactory stimuli produced by rearing diets as well as its growth rate on mostly preferred diets. Materials and methods: The blowflies were collected from Tehran using Inverted Bottle Trap baited with fresh liver. The specimens were morphologically identified to belong to Calliphoridae family and Lucilia sericata species. One hundred flies were placed in the central chamber of a 4-arm olfactometer baited with meat, chicken liver, poultry slaughter waste, and vegetable waste. The attraction of the blowfly was then determined by counting the attending fly in each arm. Fresh chicken liver and blood agar fortified with 10% sheep blood were then used to rear the fly over a period of 9 months, during which numerous generations were checked for growth indices. The flies were kept in cages (30 * 30 * 30 cm) at 28 ± 2 °C, 40% RH and 12:12 (L/D). The adult flies were fed with 50% sugar juice (1:1 ratio) and allowed to lay eggs on fresh liver provided on daily basis. Results: The attraction rates of flies to meat, chicken liver, poultry slaughter waste, and vegetable waste were 50%, 26%, 18% and 8% respectively. On chicken liver, the larval stages lasted for 7.5± 0.5 days, whereas pupal period was 6.5 ± 0.5 days. The lifespan of adult stage was recorded to be 6 weeks. On blood agar, the larval and pupal periods were 2 days and 1 day shorter respectively. The first two larval stages were the most voracious consuming 0.1 g liver per larva/day. Egg laying started 3 days after adult emergence and continued for 25 days culminating at day 21 post emergence. The fecundity rates on both media was similar and rated at 186 ± 70 eggs per female. Conclusion: The blood content of diets seems to act as both olfactory stimulus as well as essential nutritious element for rearing of L. sericata, while other components are complementary of secondary importance. |
| Keywords: |
| Lucilia sericata, Maggot Therapy, olfactory stimuli, fly rearing, growth rate. |
| Status : Paper Accepted (Oral Presentation) |
