Rearing and Biology of the Horn Fly 1 in the Laboratory: Effects of Density on Survival and Fecundity of Adults 3

Abstract

When 100 adult Haematobia irritans (L.) were placed in cages of 7 sizes, or various numbers of flies were placed in 237-cm³ cages (sex ratio always 1: 1) so the densities ranged from 37.8 to 0.6 cm³ of space per fly, the hatchability of the eggs obtained from the more densely populated cages was always higher. In the test that had various numbers of flies in 237-cm³ cages, survival of flies was higher when the flies were less densely populated, but the number of eggs that were oviposited during each test was not affected by density. Thus, densities of caged flies ranging from 0.6 to 9.5 cm³ of space per fly should be used to rear adult horn flies in the laboratory.