Comparison of sampling tabanids (Diptera: Tabanidae) by four different potential attractants

Electrophysiological and behavioural responses of females of two tabanid species, Tabanus bromius L. and Atylotus quadrifarius (Loew) (Diptera: Tabanidae), to ammonia, octenol (1-octen-3-ol), phenols and aged horse urine were compared. Electroantennogram (EAG) responses in both species to octenol, 4-methylphenol (4MP), 3-propylphenol (3PP) and a phenol mixture (4MP and 3PP at a ratio of 16 : 1) increased in a dose-dependent fashion. The most effective stimulus was 4MP and synergism between the two phenols may exist. Aged horse urine also elicited strong EAG responses in both species. Using gas chromatography-mass spectrometry (GC-MS) analysis, we identified 29 compounds in horse urine, which included, in particular, ketones, fatty alcohols and phenols, among which 4MP was the most abundant component (~ 80%). Trapping experiments were carried out using Nzi traps baited with various odours. Octenol and the phenol mixture in combination with ammonia increased catches of tabanids by 1.8-2.8 times relative to ammonia alone. Aged horse urine increased catches of T. bromius and A. quadrifarius by 2.2 and 4.1 times, respectively. The high attractiveness of aged horse urine, especially for A. quadrifarius, is not likely to derive from 4MP alone, but from the mixture of various active compounds used in host location.

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 97%

Olfactory and behavioural responses of tabanid horseflies to octenol, phenols and aged horse urine

Baldacchino

Manon

Puech

et al. 2013

“…on sticky enclosures surrounding Nzi traps (Mihok et al , 2007). Yet in Croatia, catches of Atylotus loewianus (Villeneuve, 1920) collected from canopy traps baited with octenol and aged horse urine did not differ significantly (Krcmar et al , 2005), and aged donkey urine collected significantly more A. loewianus than did traps baited with a mixture of octenol, acetone and ammonia (5 : 3 : 2) (Krcmar et al , 2010). The low electrophysiological activity of octenol on antennae of A. quadrifarius may explain why not all biting flies respond to octenol alone or in combination with other attractants.…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Behavioural and electrophysiological responses of females of two species of tabanid to volatiles in urine of different mammals

Baldacchino

Cadier

Porciani

et al. 2012

Urine volatiles from different ungulates (cows, horses and sheep) were tested as bait for tabanids in southeastern France using Nzi traps during the early summer of 2011. Tabanus bromius Linnaeus, 1758 and Atylotus quadrifarius (Loew, 1874) (both: Diptera: Tabanidae) were the most captured species, respectively representing 57% and 41% of all tabanids collected (all of which were female). Horse urine significantly increased catches of T. bromius (1.6-fold) and A. quadrifarius (3.5-fold), and sheep urine significantly increased catches of A. quadrifarius (2.5-fold). In parallel, an electroantennogram (EAG) study was conducted for the first time on these two species, in which EAGs were recorded using 1-octen-3-ol and extracts of the same urine samples used in the field. For T. bromius, the EAG response to 1-octen-3-ol increased quasi-sigmoidally with dose, with a maximum response at ≥100 µg on filter paper. For both species of tabanid, cow and horse urine elicited larger EAGs than did sheep urine. The behavioural implications in host-seeking and feeding habits are discussed.

“…Recently, we found that cow urine after a short period of ageing attracts Hybomitra spp. (Mihok & Mulye, 2010), as it does for some Tabanus and Haematopota Meigen (Diptera: Tabanidae) in Europe (Krčmar et al , 2009). This result was unexpected, as several studies in North America have failed to demonstrate a response to the key phenols responsible for the attraction of biting flies to aged urine from various bovines.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 95%

Synergism between ammonia and phenols for Hybomitra tabanids in northern and temperate Canada

Mihok¹,

Lange

2011

Baits for tabanids (Diptera: Tabanidae) were tested in the Northwest Territories (60 °N) and Ontario (45 °N) using Nzi traps. Tests targeted ammonia, phenols/cow urine and octenol. About 200 000 tabanids were captured in 15 experiments with a maximum capture of 4182 in one trap in 1 day. In the Northwest Territories, phenols, urine and octenol were effective single baits for only some species. At both locations, adding ammonia to an unbaited or an octenol-baited trap had no effect on catches. By contrast, catches were increased for several species when ammonia was combined with phenols or urine. In Ontario, including ammonia in various baits increased catches by 1.5- to 3.4-fold relative to octenol alone for three Hybomitra and one Tabanus species. Synergism between ammonia and phenols was clearly demonstrated for the dominant Hybomitra species in Ontario (Hybomitra lasiophthalma), but not for the dominant species in the Northwest Territories (Hybomitra epistates). In five other northern Hybomitra species, baits of ammonia and/or octenol in combination with phenols resulted in a 1.7- to 4.1-fold increase in catch relative to an unbaited trap. Further tests of ammonia as a synergist for biting flies may prove useful in, for example, tsetse, which respond strongly to phenols.