The influence of weather and time of day on trap catches of males and females of Lucilia cuprina (Wiedemann) (Diptera: Calliphoridae)

Abstract

Differences in responses of males and females of Lucilia cuprina (Wiedemann) to carrion-baited traps were examined in Australia in relation to time of day, temperature, wind speed, relative humidity and solar radiation. The differences were small compared with responses obtained for the combined sexes (total catch), but the results were inconsistent over the four seasons of trapping. The seasons with most data (1975-1976 and 1981-1982) gave reasonably consistent results. Seasonal differences, although significant, were small enough to neglect for the purpose of standardizing trap catches. Time-of-day effects were also unimportant, except that males tended to be less active than females during the early morning (dawn-0900 h) and more active than females during the late afternoon (1500 h-dusk). Separate models are presented for standardization of male and female catch rates; the estimates differ from those obtained from total catches, but the differences are small compared to the observed day-to-day variation in catch rates.

Influence of weather conditions on fly abundance and its implications for transmission of rabbit haemorrhagic disease virus in the North Island of New Zealand

“…Consecutive days with markedly different temperatures are more likely to reveal differences in response to temperature (Vogt et al ., 1985) than temperature ranges within a day. The use of weekly averaged data, as applied in our analysis, would have taken this into account.…”

Adult mortality and oviposition rates in field and captive populations of the blowfly Lucilia sericata

“…Previous work on other Lucilia spp. has indicated that blowfly oviposition activity is highest when relative humidity (and temperature) is high (Wardle, 1927; Vogt & Woodburn, 1985; Wardhaugh & Morton, 1990). However, it should be noted that these studies were carried out in relatively hot environments.…”

Estimation of population size and survival of sheep blowfly, Lucilia cuprina, in the field from serial recoveries of marked flies affected by weather dispersal and age‐dependent trappability

“…Values of R were estimated hourly and then averaged to obtain estimated mean daily catch rates. The calibration procedure is applicable to catches of both sexes of L. cuprina (Vogt et al, 1985a).…”

“…Ecological studies aimed at modelling population dynamics of the Australian sheep blowfly, Ludlia cuprina (Wiedemann), require regular estimates of population size. To this end, field populations are sampled in a standard way using carrionbaited traps (Vogt and Havenstein, 1974), and trap catches have been calibrated with respect to changes in the main weather variables (temperature, wind speed) to estimate relative changes in fly numbers between sampling occasions (Vogt et al, 1983(Vogt et al, , 1985a. Similar calibrations have been applied to trap catches of other insect species, including Helicoverpa armigera (Hubner) and H. punctigera Wallengren (Morton et al, 1981;Dent and Pawar, 1988), Culicoides spp.…”