Effect of Reserpine on Reproduction of the House Fly1

Abstract

House flies, Musca domestica L., were treated with reserpine (methylrcscrpate 3,4,5-trimethoxybenzoic acid ester) to determine its effects on the reproductive system. Tranquilized quilized flies were very sluggish, of slow flight, and indifferent to human presence. Fifty females fed a dosage of 6 mg reserpine per ml in a milk diet produced less than 400 eggs during their life span. In some cases no eggs were produced. Ninety-eight percent of the eggs laid by the treated females were not viable. The ovaries of the females, after treatment with 6 mg reserpine per ml in a milk diet, developed slowly and once engorged with eggs remained in this state for the remainder of the test period. The testes of the males were not affected by treatment either in overall size or in histological structure. Males treated with reserpine had difficulty in mating, and sperm transfer was reduced to⅓ that of a normal fly. Males treated with 6 mg reserpine per ml in a milk diet filled an average of only 1spenllatheca in the female, whereas non treated males filled all 3 spermathecae. Reserpine had no effect on larvae fed 20 mg reserpine per g larval media or subsequent adult flies.