Effect of insecticides, especially diazinon, on the amino acids of adult houseflies Musca domestica

Abstract

1. 1. The amounts of individual free amino acids in different strains of housefly can differ. These differences are not related to selection by or resistance of the flies to Diazinon. 2. 2. The amounts of free amino acids in houseflies change with changing age and nutritional status. 3. 3. Poisoning caused changes in the amino acids of houseflies. Each poison produced characteristic effects, but the changes caused by diazinon resembled those from oyxgen excess and poisoning by dinitrophenol. Changes caused by the pyrethrins resemble those of oxygen lack and poisoning by cyanide and fluoracetate. 4. 4. Changes in the amino acids of houseflies caused by diazinon suggest that organophosphorus poisons may affect the metabolism of fats or carbohydrates in addition to inhibiting cholinesterase of the nervous system.