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Variation in the proportion of different reproductive stages of female bushflies (Musca vetustissima Wlk. (Diptera, Muscidae)) in bait catches as a cause of error in population estimates

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  10 July 2009

R. D. Hughes
R. D. Hughes
Affiliation:
CSIRO, Division of Entomology, P.O. Box 1700, Canberra City, A.C.T. 2601, Australia
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Abstract

Most trapping techniques for estimating populations assume that all individuals are equally trappable. Where potential protein sources are used as baits for muscoid flies, which are known to have a cyclical intake of protein during ovarian development, numbers caught may not be comparable. Accumulated field data on the reproductive stages of samples of the bushfly (Musca vetustissima Wlk.) in a study area near Canberra have been analysed to show that only flies in the last stages of maturing their eggs (reproductive stage IV) are uniformly under-represented (about 22% of expectation) in baited samples.

Type
Original Articles
Information
Bulletin of Entomological Research , Volume 64 , Issue 1 , August 1974 , pp. 65 - 71
Copyright
Copyright © Cambridge University Press 1974

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References

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