Influence of sex and prior protein feeding on preferences by the housefly, Musca domestica, between sucrose solutions and solutions of l‐leucine or sodium phosphate buffer

Abstract

Comparisons were made of the preferences shown by non-protein-fed females, protein-fed gravid females, and non-protein-fed males of the house fly, given choices between sucrose solution and either l-leucine or sodium phosphate buffer.In choice tests where non-protein-fed females showed little preference, protein-fed females and males both showed a strong preference for the sucrose solution. The findings suggest that l-leucine and sodium phosphate buffer are recognised by non-protein-fed females as indicators of nutrients for ovarian development.

Effects of Dietary Protein Levels on Reproduction and Food Consumption in the German Cockroach (Dictyoptera: Blattellidae)

“…NITROGEN, particularly as proteins, is often implicated as a limiting factor in insect reproduction (McCaffery 1975, Barton Browne et al 1980). The interaction between protein feeding and egg production has been studied most extensively in Diptera (Dethier 1961, Roberts & Kitching 1974, Belzer 1978, Barton Browne et al 1979, Barton Browne & Kerr 1986). For example, Barton Browne et al (1976) documented that females of the Australian sheep blowfly, Lucilia cuprina Wiedemann, become sexually receptive only after ingesting a protein meal.…”