EFFECT OF THE ARTHROPOD COMMUNITY ON SURVIVORSHIP OF IMMATURE HAEMATOBIA-IRRITANS (DIPTERA, MUSCIDAE) IN NORTH CENTRAL FLORIDA

Field mortality of horn flies caused by the arthropod community was te sted by seeding colony-reared horn fly (Haematobia irritans L.) eggs u nderneath artificial cattle pats placed in the field and collecting th e emerging flies using cone traps. Mean numbers of horn flies that eme rged from pats exposed to the whole arthropod community during the dev elopmental period of the immature stages were significantly lower than those from pats isolated from all members of the community except Sol enopsis invicta Buren. The community-caused mortalities of horn flies were 75.9% and 66.7% in July and August 1992, respectively, with an ov erall average of 71.3%. Predation by S. invicta raised mortality to at least 93.9%. These results suggest that the other arthropods in cattl e dung played an important role in reducing horn fly populations in no rth-central Florida.