Tawich Simon K, Bargul Joel L, Masiga Daniel, Getahun Merid N
International Centre of Insect Physiology and Ecology (icipe), Nairobi, Kenya.
Department of Biochemistry, Jomo Kenyatta University of Agriculture and Technology, Nairobi, Kenya.
Front Physiol. 2021 Mar 30;12:646367. doi: 10.3389/fphys.2021.646367. eCollection 2021.
(stable fly) is a cosmopolitan biting fly of both medical and veterinary importance. Unlike blood-feeding-related behavior of stable fly, its plant feeding, the fitness value, and the -plant interaction are less understood. Here we show based on two chloroplast DNA genes, ribulose bisphosphate carboxylase large chain () and the intergenic spacer gene , that field-collected male and female stable flies fed on various plant species. We investigated the fitness cost of plant feeding using , one of the plant species identified to have been fed on by the field-collected flies. Supplementation of blood feeding with a flowering plant as nectar source enhanced egg hatchability significantly as compared to blood alone, showing the fitness value of nectar supplementation. However, nectar supplementation did not affect the number of eggs laid or longevity of as compared to flies that fed on blood alone. maintained on sugar alone failed to lay eggs. The various plants stable flies fed on demonstrated chemodiversity with their own signature scent. The behavioral response of to these signature compounds varied from strong attraction (γ-terpinene) to neutral (linalool oxide and myrcene) to repellency (butanoic acid). Our study demonstrated that stable flies feed on nectar, and plant nectar supplementation of blood feeding enhanced larval emergence. Thus, our result has implication in stable fly reproduction, survival, disease transmission, boosting laboratory colony, and the possibility of using plant-derived odors for mass trapping of stable fly, for instance, using γ-terpinene.
厩螫蝇是一种在医学和兽医学上都具有重要意义的世界性吸血蝇类。与厩螫蝇与吸血相关的行为不同，其取食植物的行为、健康价值以及与植物的相互作用鲜为人知。在此，我们基于两个叶绿体DNA基因，即核酮糖二磷酸羧化酶大亚基（）和基因间隔区基因，表明野外采集的厩螫蝇雌雄个体取食多种植物。我们使用一种已被确定为野外采集的厩螫蝇取食过的植物物种，来研究取食植物的健康成本。与仅用血喂养相比，补充开花植物花蜜作为血源显著提高了卵的孵化率，显示了补充花蜜的健康价值。然而，与仅用血喂养的厩螫蝇相比，补充花蜜并未影响产卵数量或厩螫蝇的寿命。仅以糖为食的厩螫蝇无法产卵。厩螫蝇取食的各种植物表现出具有自身特征气味的化学多样性。厩螫蝇对这些特征化合物的行为反应从强烈吸引（γ-萜品烯）到无反应（氧化芳樟醇和月桂烯）再到排斥（丁酸）不等。我们的研究表明厩螫蝇取食花蜜，血源补充植物花蜜可提高幼虫羽化率。因此，我们的研究结果对厩螫蝇的繁殖、生存、疾病传播、实验室种群繁育以及利用植物源气味大规模诱捕厩螫蝇（例如使用γ-萜品烯）具有启示意义。
