The Reproductive Life History and Blood Meal Sources of Chrysops Hirsuticallus (Diptera: Tabanidae)

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Abstract
The reproductive life history and blood meal sources of the deer fly Chrysops hirsuticallus from Mendocino Co., California, were determined during 1971–1974. Nulliparous specimens predominated in late April and most of May, whereas uniparous and biparous flies constituted the majority of the late May–June collections. Two triparous flies observed in 1973 are the first recorded for wild-caught deer flies in North America. Egg retention increased with advancing gonotrophic age. Sweeping of vegetation yielded comparable proportions of females with their terminal follicles in developmental stages N to II (55%) and III to V (45%), with 85% of flies in stages II or V. More than 80% of flies hand-captured while attacking man were in stage II, whereas only 2% were in stages III to V. C. hirsuticallus is anautogenous at this site, since females reared from pupae and held alive for up to 8 days entered ovarian diapause in stage II by day 4. Mating preceded blood feeding, as spermathecae of all 17 host-seeking nullipars examined contained spermatozoa. Serologic analyses (capillary precipitin and passive hemagglutination inhibition tests) of 19 engorged specimens revealed that cattle and Columbian Black-tailed Deer were frequent hosts. Limited feeding also occurred on Blacktailed Jack Rabbit, Virginia Opossum, and Raccoon.

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