Influence of larval density and temperature in poultry manure on development of the house fly (Diptera: Muscidae)

Median development rates of larvae (LDR) and pupae (PDR) of wild housefly, Musca domestica L., were measured by rearing larvae in poultry manure at 12.4, 17.3, 23.1, 32.0, and 38.9°C at densities of 1, 2.5, and 5 larvae per g of manure, and by rearing pupae at 13.7, 17.1, 23.0, 31.8, and 37.0°C. Manure temperature, larval density, and their interaction significantly influenced median LDR (range, 0.0477–0.1667). Larval survival was affected by density and manure temperature. Median PDR (range, 0.0417–0.2916) and survival in pupae was a response to air temperature but not the level of crowding preceding pupation. Predicted development rates correlated with observed rates for each larval density (R2 = 0.964, 0.958, and 0.979 for 1, 2.5, and 5 larvae per g manure, respectively) and for pupae (R2 = 0.999). However, these rates differed by 3–16% among larval densities within temperature which corresponded to variations in development time of 0.5–3.8 d. The relationship between cumulative numbers of larval–pupal transitions and the physiological age of flies was influenced at the 5th and 25th percentiles of the population by larval density and at the 75th and 95th percentiles by larval density and manure temperature. The relationship for pupal–adult transitions was influenced only by air temperature.