| Title: | "High innate attractiveness to black targets in the blue blowfly, Calliphora vomitoria (L.) (Diptera: Calliphoridae)" |
| Author(s): | Benelli G; Otranto D; Caselli A; Romano D; Remorini D; Di Giuseppe G; Stefanini C; Mele M; Canale A; |
| Address: | "Department of Agriculture, Food and Environment, University of Pisa, via del Borghetto 80, 56124 Pisa, Italy; The BioRobotics Institute, Sant'Anna School of Advanced Studies, viale Rinaldo Piaggio 34, 56025 Pontedera, Pisa, Italy. Electronic address: giovanni.benelli@santannapisa.it. Department of Veterinary Medicine, University of Bari Aldo Moro, Bari, Italy. Department of Agriculture, Food and Environment, University of Pisa, via del Borghetto 80, 56124 Pisa, Italy. The BioRobotics Institute, Sant'Anna School of Advanced Studies, viale Rinaldo Piaggio 34, 56025 Pontedera, Pisa, Italy. Department of Biology, University of Pisa, via Alessandro Volta 4, 56126 Pisa, Italy" |
| DOI: | 10.1016/j.actatropica.2018.02.023 |
| ISSN/ISBN: | 1873-6254 (Electronic) 0001-706X (Linking) |
| Abstract: | "Calliphora vomitoria is a myiasis-causing fly in many animal species including humans. The control of blowflies is still anchored on the use of chemicals. However, mass trapping and lure-and-kill techniques represent a promising alternative to pesticides. Visual and olfactory cues are the main stimuli routing the fly's landing behavior. Notably, color attractiveness has been barely explored in flies of medical and veterinary importance, with special reference to blowflies. In this study, we investigated the innate color preferences in C. vomitoria adults, testing binary combinations of painted targets under laboratory conditions. The identity of tested species C. vomitoria was confirmed by DNA sequencing (18S and cox1 genes). C. vomitoria flies showed a significant preference for black colored targets in all tested binary color combinations, after 5, 15, 30 and 60?ª+min of exposure. Black targets were significantly preferred over blue, red, yellow and white ones. Spectral characteristics of all tested color combinations were quantified and the innate attraction of blowflies towards black targets was discussed in relation to their behavioral ecology. To the best of our knowledge, this is the first report on innate color preferences in the Calliphora genus. Our findings can be useful to develop new, cheap and reliable monitoring traps as well as 'lure and kill' tools to control blowfly pests" |
| Keywords: | "Animals Color Diptera/*physiology Flight, Animal/physiology *Instinct Pigmentation 18s Calliphoridae Color perception Cox1 DNA sequencing Innate behavior Lure and kill Mass trapping Molecular characterization Monitoring Myiasis;" |
| Notes: | "MedlineBenelli, Giovanni Otranto, Domenico Caselli, Alice Romano, Donato Remorini, Damiano Di Giuseppe, Graziano Stefanini, Cesare Mele, Marcello Canale, Angelo eng Netherlands 2018/02/27 Acta Trop. 2018 Jun; 182:144-148. doi: 10.1016/j.actatropica.2018.02.023. Epub 2018 Feb 23" |
