BEHAVIORAL RESPONSE BY Chrysomya megacephala (DIPTER: CALLIPHORIDAE), BLOWFLY, DIFFERENT FOOD SUPPLIES

Abstract

The fly Chrysomya megacephala (Fabricius, 1794) (Diptera: Calliphoridae), popularly known as blowfly, is economically important for food industries, medical entomology, postmortem investigations (PMI), and public health as a mechanical vector of pathogens (viruses, bacteria and helminths) that cause myiasis, the so-called bicheiras, which can occur in humans and animals, as well as being of agricultural importance as a pollinator. For this species the protein diet is fundamental not only for its nutrition but also for maturation of the ovarian follicles and consequently for their reproduction. In order to find out which food sources are most attractive to C. megacephala, three protein sources were chosen, namely beef, shrimp and fish in order to develop control methods for this insect. Thus, this work aims to identify the volatile metabolites responsible for the attraction of C. megacephala to the food source. Experiments were performed to collect volatile compounds from beef, shrimp and fish at different decomposition times: 0h, 24h, 48h and 72h. The tests were performed in four-arm olfactometers, adapted to the flight needs of flies. After statistical and behavioral evaluation, it was observed that female flies responded significantly to different odor sources, unlike males. The odorous source that presented the best attraction response for the insects was the shrimp. Among the extracts of the shrimp protein source, the extract with the decomposition time of 48h presented the best response. The volatile organic compounds (VOCs) of this extract were characterized by gas chromatography and were identified as possible bioactive compounds phenol, 2-nonanone, dimethylsulfide and indole.