Rearing the scuttle fly<i>Megaselia scalaris</i>(Diptera: Phoridae) on industrial compounds: implications on size and lifespan

Alcaine-Colet, Anna; Wotton, Karl R.; Jiménez-Guri, Eva

doi:10.7717/peerj.1085

Cited by 6 publications

(5 citation statements)

References 27 publications

Supporting

Mentioning

Contrasting

Order By: Relevance

“…Megaselia scalaris , a common detritivore, has been known to develop on substances as diverse as human wounds and corpses 51 , 52 , modeling clay, and emulsion paint 53 , 54 . Their ability to grow and mature on these diets, with minimal effect on their survival, and their tolerance to heavy metals 42 makes any effect of pharmaceuticals at very low doses found in reclaimed water even more surprising.…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Effects of contaminants of emerging concern on Megaselia scalaris (Lowe, Diptera: Phoridae) and its microbial community

Pennington

Rothman

Jones

et al. 2017

Sci Rep

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

Drought, rising temperatures, and expanding human populations are increasing water demands. Many countries are extending potable water supplies by irrigating crops with wastewater. Unfortunately, wastewater contains biologically active, long-lived pharmaceuticals, even after treatment. Run-off from farms and wastewater treatment plant overflows contribute high concentrations of pharmaceuticals to the environment. This study assessed the effects of common pharmaceuticals on a cosmopolitan saprophagous insect, Megaselia scalaris (Diptera: Phoridae). Larvae were reared on artificial diets spiked with contaminants of emerging concern (CECs) at environmentally relevant concentrations. Female flies showed no oviposition preference for treated or untreated diets. Larvae exposed to caffeine in diets showed increased mortality, and larvae fed antibiotics and hormones showed signs of slowed development, especially in females. The normal sex ratio observed in M. scalaris from control diets was affected by exposure to caffeine and pharmaceutical mixture treatments. There was an overall effect of treatment on the flies’ microbial communities; notably, caffeine fed insects displayed higher microbial variability. Eight bacterial families accounted for approximately 95% of the total microbes in diet and insects. Our results suggest that CECs at environmentally relevant concentrations can affect the biology and microbial communities of an insect of ecological and medical importance.

show abstract

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Effects of contaminants of emerging concern on Megaselia scalaris (Lowe, Diptera: Phoridae) and its microbial community

Pennington

Rothman

Jones

et al. 2017

Sci Rep

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

show abstract

“…This adaptation behavior is advantageous when suitable spots for laying eggs are unavailable or during dry seasons. The short life cycle of Phoridae also causes an increase in their population size as they reproduce more rapidly (Alcaine-Colet et al 2015).…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Diversity and spatial distribution of Order Diptera from Kuala Keniam National Park, Pahang, Malaysia

AMIN,

FATHIAH,

‘ALIYAA

et al. 2023

Biodiversitas

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

Abstract. Amin IN, Fathiah KN, ‘Aliyaa NN, Badrina MNN, Nadiah MYN, Hasnah KS, Norhafizah MZ, Khairiyah MHS. 2023. Diversity and spatial distribution of Order Diptera from Kuala Keniam National Park, Pahang, Malaysia. Biodiversitas 24: 4668-4674. A study on the diversity and distribution of order Diptera was conducted in different Kuala Keniam National Park, Malaysia landscapes. Three malaise traps were placed in three landscapes: the forest fringe, middle forest, and inner forest. A total of 1920 Diptera were recorded from 19 families and 109 morphospecies of order Diptera. Anthomyiidae, Calliphoridae, Pipunculidae, Scenopinidae, Ulidiidae, Tephritidae, Ceratopogonidae, Stratiomyidae, Asilidae, Syrphidae, Tipulidae, Ephydridae, Cecidomyiidae, Dolichopodidae, Phoridae, Culicidae, Muscidae, Sciaridae, and Drosophilidae were the identified families. The family with the highest number of individuals collected was Phoridae, with 89 individuals (5 morphospecies) collected from the forest fringe, followed by 271 individuals (6 morphospecies) from the middle forest and 697 individuals from the inner forest (7 morphospecies). Pipunculidae had the least collected individuals, with only one in the inner forest. The forest fringe recorded the highest Shannon-Wiener Diversity Index (2.13), followed by the middle forest (1.68) and the inner forest (1.04). The forest fringe also recorded the highest Evenness Index and Margalef Richness Index with 0.44 and 3.16, respectively. The distribution of Diptera differed significantly along the environment gradients from the forest fringe to the inner forest (p<0.05), and the pairwise comparison showed that the difference comes from Trap 2 and Trap 3 (p<0.001). The forest fringe was more diversified than the middle and the inner forest, even though the number of individuals was low. Vegetation types and sunlight might be the reasons behind this discovery. The results from this study can be used as baseline data for future reference on the diversity of Diptera from the forest reserve.

show abstract

“…In D. melanogaster and other flies, the size of pupae and adult flies depends on the size of the larvae at the moment of pupation, which is determined by the availability of food during larval development. Starvation usually correlates with a longer larval stage, to attain the minimal viable size to survive metamorphosis, and a shorter pupal stage, probably since smaller larvae means less tissue to be metamorphosed ( Alcaine-Colet, Wotton & Jimenez-Guri, 2015 ). In our case, the affected flies were reared in plastic-free media, and therefore we did not expect that the food source would trigger a change in their body size and developmental time.…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Transgenerational effects on development following microplastic exposure in Drosophila melanogaster

Jiménez-Guri

Roberts

García

et al. 2021

PeerJ

Self Cite

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

Background Plastic pollution affects all ecosystems, and detrimental effects to animals have been reported in a growing number of studies. However, there is a paucity of evidence for effects on terrestrial animals in comparison to those in the marine realm. Methods We used the fly Drosophila melanogaster to study the effects that exposure to plastics may have on life history traits and immune response. We reared flies in four conditions: In media containing 1% virgin polyethylene, with no chemical additives; in media supplemented with 1% or 4% polyvinyl chloride, known to have a high content of added chemicals; and control flies in non-supplemented media. Plastic particle size ranged from 23–500 µm. We studied fly survival to viral infection, the length of the larval and pupal stage, sex ratios, fertility and the size of the resultant adult flies. We then performed crossings of F1 flies in non-supplemented media and looked at the life history traits of the F2. Results Flies treated with plastics in the food media showed changes in fertility and sex ratio, but showed no differences in developmental times, adult size or the capacity to fight infections in comparison with controls. However, the offspring of treated flies reared in non-supplemented food had shorter life cycles, and those coming from both polyvinyl chloride treatments were smaller than those offspring of controls.

show abstract

Rearing the scuttle flyMegaselia scalaris(Diptera: Phoridae) on industrial compounds: implications on size and lifespan

Cited by 6 publications

References 27 publications

Effects of contaminants of emerging concern on Megaselia scalaris (Lowe, Diptera: Phoridae) and its microbial community

Effects of contaminants of emerging concern on Megaselia scalaris (Lowe, Diptera: Phoridae) and its microbial community

Diversity and spatial distribution of Order Diptera from Kuala Keniam National Park, Pahang, Malaysia

Transgenerational effects on development following microplastic exposure in Drosophila melanogaster

Contact Info

Product

Resources

About