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Abstract
The common green bottle fly Lucilia sericata (Meigen) and other filth flies frequently visit pollen-rich composite flowers such as the Oxeye daisy, Leucanthemum vulgare Lam. In laboratory experiments with L. sericata, we investigated the effect of generic floral scent and color cues, and of Oxeye daisy-specific cues, on foraging decisions by recently eclosed flies. We also tested the effect of a floral pollen diet with 0–35% moisture content on the ability of females to mature their oocytes. Our data indicate that (1) young flies in the presence of generic floral scent respond more strongly to a uniformly yellow cue than to any other uniform color cue (green, white, black, blue, red) except for ultraviolet (UV); (2) the floral scent of Oxeye daisies enhances the attractiveness of a yellow cue; and (3) moisture-rich pollen provides nutrients that facilitate ovary maturation of flies. With evidence that L. sericata exploits floral cues during foraging, and that pollen can be an alternate protein source to animal feces and carrion, Pollen apparently plays a major role in the foraging ecology of L. sericata and possibly other filth flies. These flies, in turn, may play a significant role as pollinators, as supported by a recently published study.
Highlights
Flies (Diptera) are the second most important group of flower-visiting insects world-wide [1]
Flies were reared in the insectary of Simon Fraser University (SFU), starting a new colony with approximately 50 gravid wild-type flies every 12 months, and increasing the colony to about 5000 flies at specific times depending on experimental requirements
Oxeye daisies were collected on the SFU campus where they are abundant from mid-April to June, facilitating their deployment in various experiments
Summary
Flies (Diptera) are the second most important group of flower-visiting insects world-wide [1]. Flies in the sub-orders Nematocera and Brachycera are well known to visit flowers in search for nectar and pollen [1,2]. The foraging cues they exploit to locate pollen- or nectar-producing plants, and the potential nutritional benefits of pollen and nectar on ovary development and maturation in flies have not yet been investigated. To mature their oocytes, blow flies require large amounts of protein [7,8,9] which they obtain from various resources including carrion and animal feces [10,11]. In PLOS ONE | DOI:10.1371/journal.pone.0145055 December 30, 2015
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