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DECOMPOSITION OF RABBIT FECES: ROLE OF THE SCIARID FLY LYCORIELLA MALI (DIPTERA: SCIARIDAE) IN ENERGY TRANSFORMATIONS

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  31 May 2012

Ethel D. Helsel  and
D. T. Wicklow
Ethel D. Helsel
Affiliation:
Department of Life Sciences, University of Pittsburgh, Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania 15260
D. T. Wicklow
Affiliation:
Department of Life Sciences, University of Pittsburgh, Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania 15260
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Abstract

Gross decomposition (wt./cal) losses of rabbit feces colonized by larvae of the sciarid fly Lycoriella mali Fitch as contrasted with feces incubated without fly larvae were studied in the laboratory. Under conditions of high larval density and intense grazing pressure, fecal weight and calorie losses (30 days) were double those from fecal samples incubated without flies. Decomposition losses among the samples in a given treatment showed limited variation although the number of emergent adults varied greatly. Although published caloric values obtained for microflora and flies are significantly higher than those recorded for the rabbit feces used in this study (4837 cal/g), feces colonized by flies and feces incubated without flies had caloric values equivalent to that of the unincubated control. Larvae consumed both the mycelium and sporocarps of coprophilous fungi.

Type
Articles
Information
The Canadian Entomologist , Volume 111 , Issue 2 , February 1979 , pp. 213 - 217
Copyright
Copyright © Entomological Society of Canada 1979

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