Metabolism of Hempa Uniformly Labeled with C14 in Male House Flies13

Abstract

When hempa was uniformly labeled with C14 and its metabolism in male house flies, Musca domestica L., was studied, total recovery of radioactivity from treated flies and their excreta was about 90%. The recovery of radioactivity from respiratory CO2 was only 1.25% of the injected 5.71 μg of C14-hempa/fly during the first 24 hours. Radiometric and colorimetric determinations indicated that 2.5-3 hours after treatment, treated flies retained 50% of the dose and that at the end of 24 hours they retained about 2-3% of the dose. The treated flies were 50% sterile 4 hours 45 minutes after treatment and completely sterile about 7 hours after treatment. The only major metabolite of hempa found in treated flies and in their excreta was pentamethylphosphoric triamide. Unchanged hempa and its metabolite were separated from the extracts of treated flies and their excreta by thin-layer chromatography, gas-liquid chromatography, and radiochromatography. For identification, the 2 compounds were isolated by thin-layer chromatography, and their structure was confirmed by infrared spectroscopy.