Thermal ecophysiology of seven carrion‐feeding blowflies in Southern Africa

Richards, Cameron S; Price, Benjamin W; Villet, Martin H

Title: Thermal ecophysiology of seven carrion‐feeding blowflies in Southern Africa
Creator: Richards, Cameron S
Creator: Price, Benjamin W
Creator: Villet, Martin H
Subject: To be catalogued
Date Issued: 2009
Date: 2009
Type: text
Type: article
Identifier: http://hdl.handle.net/10962/442384
Identifier: vital:73980
Identifier: https://doi.org/10.1111/j.1570-7458.2009.00824.x
Description: A variety of temperature thresholds for larvae, pupae, and adults of seven African species of carrion‐feeding blowflies (Diptera: Calliphoridae) was measured and compared to understand their basic thermal biology and the influence of temperature on their behaviour. Calliphoraácroceipalpis (Jaennicke) had consistently lower temperature thresholds than all other species tested for all larval (42.9á░C), pupal (16.6á░C), and adult (45.6á░C) stages. Larvae (50.1á░C) and adults (53.4á░C) of Chrysomyaámarginalis (Robineau‐Desvoidy) had higher upper lethal temperature thresholds than all other species and weighed more than all other species. Pupae and adults of both Chrysomyaáalbiceps (Wiedemann) and Luciliaásericata (Meigen) had similar temperature thresholds, whereas Chrysomyaáputoria (Wiedemann), Chrysomyaáchloropyga (Wiedemann), and Chrysomyaámegacephala (Fabricius) had inconsistent rank temperature thresholds between the larval, pupal, and adult stages. With a few minor exceptions, the nervous activity, muscle activity, and death thresholds in female adult flies responded at higher temperatures than conspecific male flies for all species tested. Similarly, female adult flies weighed consistently more than conspecific male flies for all species tested, except Ca.ácroceipalpis. These data suggest that there is a phylogenetic component to the thermal biology of blowflies, because Ca.ácroceipalpis belongs to a primarily Holarctic genus and shows adaptation to that climate even though it inhabits Africa. Comparisons between these temperature thresholds and the distributions of blowfly species present on three rhinoceros carcasses suggest that blowfly larvae with high upper lethal temperature thresholds (particularly C.ámarginalis) dominate in interspecific competition on the carcass by raising the temperature of the amassed maggots above the thresholds of other carrion‐feeding blowflies, through metabolically generated heat.
Format: 9 pages
Format: pdf
Language: English
Relation: Entomologia Experimentalis et Applicata
Relation: Richards, C.S., Price, B.W. and Villet, M.H., 2009. Thermal ecophysiology of seven carrion‐feeding blowflies in Southern Africa. Entomologia Experimentalis et Applicata, 131(1), pp.11-19
Relation: Entomologia Experimentalis et Applicata volume 131 number 1 11 19 2009 1570-7458
Rights: Publisher
Rights: Use of this resource is governed by the terms and conditions of the Wiley Library Online Terms of Use Statement (https://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/terms-and-conditions)

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SDG 15. Life On Land

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