An assessment of some methods for the bioassay of changes in cattle dung as insect food, using the bush fly, Musca vetustissima Walker (Diptera: Muscidae)

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Abstract
Several methods for the bioassay of changes in cattle dung as insect food were defined and simultaneously assessed using Musca vetustissima Wlk. Size of emerging adults, in particular head width, was a reliable estimator of changes in the dung, but survival was not. Freezing of dung for 24 h had no effect. Flies of similar size emerged from dung placed on moist sand (field capacity moisture) and on an impermeable membrane; on dry sand, size was greatly reduced when the dung was coarse and less nutritious. The optimal method was deemed to be use of fresh dung on sand at field capacity moisture, leaving flies to emerge and die before measuring the head widths in a sample.