| Title: | "Semiochemical-mediated oviposition avoidance by female house flies, Musca domestica, on animal feces colonized with harmful fungi" |
| Author(s): | Lam K; Tsang M; Labrie A; Gries R; Gries G; |
| Address: | "Department of Biological Sciences, Simon Fraser University, Burnaby, BC, V5A 1S6, Canada" |
| DOI: | 10.1007/s10886-010-9741-2 |
| ISSN/ISBN: | 1573-1561 (Electronic) 0098-0331 (Linking) |
| Abstract: | "House flies, Musca domestica, utilize ephemeral resources such as animal feces for oviposition and development of larval offspring, but they face competition with fungi that colonize the same resource. We predicted that house flies avoid oviposition on feces well-colonized with fungi, thereby reducing fungal competition for larval offspring. Working with fungal isolates from chicken feces, we have previously shown that prior establishment of Phoma spp., Fusarium spp., or Rhizopus spp. on feces significantly reduced oviposition by house flies. Here, we report that, in the headspace volatiles of these three fungal genera, five compounds (dimethyl trisulfide, an unknown, 2-phenylethanol, citronellal, norphytone) elicit responses from house fly antennae. In behavioral bioassays, dimethyl trisulfide and 2-phenylethanol significantly reduced oviposition by house flies. We conclude that fungus-derived volatiles serve as semiochemical cues that help house flies avoid resources colonized with fungal competitors for the development of larval offspring" |
| Keywords: | "Animals Behavior, Animal/*drug effects Feces/*microbiology Female Fungi/*chemistry Houseflies/*drug effects/*physiology Male Oviposition/*drug effects;" |
| Notes: | "MedlineLam, Kevin Tsang, Michelle Labrie, Audrey Gries, Regine Gries, Gerhard eng Research Support, Non-U.S. Gov't 2010/02/12 J Chem Ecol. 2010 Feb; 36(2):141-7. doi: 10.1007/s10886-010-9741-2. Epub 2010 Feb 11" |
