Duration and frequency of wing beat in the aging house fly, Musca domestica L.

Abstract

1. The age-related changes in wing beat frequency and duration of flight were studied in senescent male and female NAIDM house flies.2. The average wing beat frequency increases to a maximum by the fifth day in female and by the fourth day in male house flies.3. Duration of flight shows a steady, day-to-day decline with age. In females, this falls from 500 minutes for one-day-old to 110 minutes for 22-day-old flies. For males, this drop is more striking, with duration of flight falling from 420 minutes in one-day-old to 63 miiutes for nine-day-old males.4. These findings correspond to and confirm quantitatively previously reported data for wing loss and similar age-related changes in enzyme and coenzyme content in the flight muscle of senescent house flies.