THE OVIPOSITIONAL RESPONSE OF THE AUSTRALIAN SHEEP BLOWFLY, LUCILIA CUPRINA, TO FLEECE‐ROT ODOURS

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Abstract
The ovipositional response of L. cuprina to odors emanating from fleece-rot lesions of greasy wool in which Pseudomonas aeruginosa proliferated was studied. Fractionation of the Fleece-rot odors was carried out by bubbling the volatile components through HCl and NaOH solutions to remove basic odors and acidic odors, respectively. The acidic/neutral odors of fleece-rot wool, when perfused into wet, greasy wool, stimulated L. cuprina to oviposit. The basic/neutral odors of fleece-rot wool were virtually unattractive to the gravid fly. The acidic/neutral odors emanating from fleece-rot lesions of clean wool from which the non-fiber components (wax, suint and epithelial debris) were removed by scouring were unattractive to the gravid fly.