Effects of Diet on the Composition of Body Fat in Lucilia sericata (Meigen)

Abstract

THIS is the third investigation of the effects of diet on the composition of body fat in related species of Diptera. The effects on two species, Pseudosarcophaga affinis auct. nec Fallén and Musca domestica Linnaeus, were usually qualitatively similar, though probably quantitatively greater in the latter^1,2. Despite their similarity in many respects, these insects have somewhat different feeding habits in that M. domestica is omnivorous and in this laboratory is reared on plant material with added yeast and other micro-organisms, whereas P. affinis is carnivorous and is reared on fresh pork liver. The two organisms also have different requirements for fatty acids in that M. domestica requires none³, whereas P. affinis benefits from the addition of fats, particularly oleic acid, to its diet⁴. The results of the present investigation of a third, related, species, Lucilia sericata (Meigen), gave information on the composition of its body fats and its requirements, or lack of them, for fatty acids, and emphasized the similarities and differences among the three species.