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 house fly, Musca domestica L., were measured by rearing larvae in poultry m anure at 12.4. 17.3, 23.1, 32.0, and 38.9-degrees-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-degrees-C. Manure temperature, larval density, and their interaction significantly influenced median LDR (range, 0.04 77-0.1667). Larval survival was affected by density and manure tempera ture. Median PDR (range, 0.0417-0.2916) and survival in pupae was a re sponse to air temperature but not the level of crowding preceding pupa tion. Predicted development rates correlated with observed rates for e ach larval density (R2 = 0.964, 0.958, and 0.979 for 1, 2.5, and 5 lar vae per g manure, respectively) and for pupae (R2 = 0.999). However, t hese rates differed by 3-16% among larval densities within temperature which corresponded to variations in development time of 0.5-3.8 d. Th e 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 95 th percentiles by larval density and manure temperature. The relations hip for pupal-adult transitions was influenced only by air temperature .