Factors affecting uptake and loss of diflubenzuron in the tsetse flyGlossina morsitans morsitansWestwood (Diptera: Glossinidae)

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Abstract
Interference with reproduction inGlossina morsitans morsitansWestw. by diflubenzuron depends on a variety of factors that influence its uptake and loss from the female fly. The duration of its eftect depends on the site and method of application to the fly as well as the amount of material applied. In nulliparous females, loss of diflubenzuron was by excretion, but as the fly aged approximately 50% of the material remaining within the fly was lost with each larviposition. Following injection, the rate of loss of diflubenzuron by excretion was twice that from flies treated topically, but in neither was it directly related to the amount of diflubenzuron within the fly. Loss to the in utero larva, however, was governed by the amount of material within the fly, at least 9 ng diflubenzuron being necessary for production of an abnormal offspring. In injected flies, the overall loss was twice that from flies treated topically on the dorsal thorax and similar to those treated topically on the ventral abdomen. This difference in the rate of loss from topically-treated flies seems to be related to the amount of material available on the surface of the fly, the cuticle apparently acting as a storage site from which there is a gradual release of diflubenzuron into the fly.