Diurnal Flight Activity of House Flies (Musca domestica) is Influenced by Sex, Time of Day, and Environmental Conditions.

Levi K Zahn,Alec C Gerry

doi:10.3390/insects11060391

Abstract

House flies (Musca domestica L.) are common synanthropic pests associated with confined animal operations, including dairy farms. House flies can cause substantial nuisance and may transmit human and animal pathogens. Surprisingly little is known about the daily flight activity of house flies. This study examined diurnal house fly flight activity on two southern California dairies using clear sticky traps to capture flies over hourly intervals. Flight activity for both males and females combined started near dawn and generally increased to a single broad activity peak during mid to late morning. Male flight activity peaked earlier than female flight activity and this separation in peak activity widened as mean daytime temperature increased. Flight activity for both sexes increased rapidly during early morning in response to the combined effects of increasing light intensity and temperature, with decreasing flight activity late in the day as temperature decreased. During midday, flight activity was slightly negatively associated with light intensity and temperature. Collection period (time of day) was a useful predictor of house fly activity on southern California dairies and the diurnal pattern of flight activity should be considered when developing house fly monitoring and control programs.

Highlights

House flies can be a significant source of nuisance, on occasion prompting legal action, as flies disperse from concentrated development sites into surrounding neighborhoods [1,2,3]
Observed environmental data indicate that light intensity follows a predictable unimodal pattern with a midday peak, temperature and humidity move in opposition with an inflection point in mid-afternoon, and wind speed is lowest at dawn and increases to irregular peaks in late afternoon
Considering both male and female flies together, flight activity was significantly related to time of day at both the BS dairy (F 15,140 = 6.70; p < 0.001; R2c = 0.41) and the OS dairy (F14,173 = 7.28; p < 0.001; R2c = 0.49), with flight activity beginning near civil dawn, followed by a single peakactivity in flight peak activity during mid toexhibited late morning

Summary

Introduction

House flies can be a significant source of nuisance, on occasion prompting legal action, as flies disperse from concentrated development sites into surrounding neighborhoods [1,2,3]. The daily pattern of house fly flight activity (including dispersal flight) likely impacts both their potential to cause nuisance and to spread pathogens. House flies are diurnally active, moving to overnight resting sites late in the day where they remain inactive at night [8,9]. Published reports describing the daily pattern of house fly flight activity are conflicting, with daily flight activity reported as either unimodal (single peak in activity) or bimodal (two peaks in activity). West [8] suggests that flight activity in house flies may shift seasonally, perhaps in response to changing daytime temperature, with a single peak in flight activity during cool months and a bimodal pattern in flight activity during hot months, but this hypothesis remains untested. Differences in the timing of peak flight activity are reported between fly sexes, with flight activity for males often occurring earlier in the day than for females [13]

Methods

Results

Discussion

Conclusion