Rearing Black Flies (Diptera: Simuliidae) in the Laboratory: Colonization and Life Table Statistics for Simulium vittatum

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Abstract
A robust colony of Simulium vittatum Zetterstedt is now in its 3rd year, spanning 24 generations. Survival from egg to adult for all rearings combined has exceeded 95%, with >256,000 adults produced. Mean development time for larvae is strongly correlated with water temperature, quantity of food, and density. Maturation from hatching to 50% adult emergence requires 460 degree-days. Adults are large and hardy; their mean wing lengths and fecundities equal or exceed those of field populations or other laboratory populations under optimal conditions. During the first several generations, a clear trend of selection for mating behavior was observed, with a concomitant selection against oviposition by uninseminated flies. These two factors accounted for the rapid rise of R0 from 1.16 in the parental rearing to 15.18 by the F2 generation. A mean yield of ca. 28,000 embryonated eggs per generation was obtained, and eggs could be stored at 2-3°C for up to 2 weeks with no decrease in viability. Flies reared on higher protein diet (34 versus 18% vegetable protein) were significantly larger and more fecund.