A Quantitative Study of a Population of Wheat Bulb Fly, Leptohylemyia coarctata (Fall.), in the Field

Abstract

During the summer of 1956, a quantitative study of a field population of Wheat Bulb Fly, Leptohylemyia coarctata (Fall.), was carried out at Rothamsted.The work consisted principally of a study of the development and decline of a population of adult flies. This was supplemented by observations on the populations of the immature stages.Emergence was investigated by the use of a cage of fine terylene netting, 24 ft. long, 12 ft. wide, and 6 ft. high. This was erected in an infested wheat field shortly before flies were expected to appear, and was searched twice daily, at 10 a.m. and shortly before sunset.A total of 293 male flies was caught during the 26 days from 24th June to 19th July. Of these, 186 appeared between 1st and 6th July. The highest day's catch was 40 flies on 6th July, by which date (inclusive) about 84 per cent, of the final total had emerged.A total of 258 female flies was caught during the 35 days from 21st June to 25th July. Of these, about half emerged between 6th and 10th July. The highest day's catch was 37 flies on 8th, by which date (inclusive) 66 per cent, of the final total had emerged.Population decrease was investigated by the method of marking and recapture. The newly emerged flies caught in the cage were marked with Artist's oil colours and released in the cage. The colour of the mark was changed daily so that the age of marked flies could be ascertained. A search was made for marked flies every three days and their numbers, marks and sex were recorded. From the recapture figures, estimates of the numbers of flies surviving at different times after marking were obtained. Mortality during the first day was very high, but after this numbers decreased at a steady rate. This initial high mortality was believed to be due to marking. The length of life of marked flies which survived this immediate effect was, however, not impaired, therefore the rate of population decrease was estimated from the recapture figures alone, that is, without reference to the numbers originally marked. The half-life of male and female populations was estimated as 7·3 and 11·1 days, respectively.Application of the estimated rate of population decrease to the observed emergence figures enabled a general picture of the size and structure of the population to be obtained. The predominance of males over females during the early part of the season and the later predominance of females over males were explained.Observations on the populations of the various stages showed that the mortality between pupation and maturation of adults was high, and that the egg populations inside the cage during the autumn of 1956 was only about 1/7th of that of the previous year. This reduction was not observed outside the cage and may have been due to the survival rate and fecundity of the flies being affected by the experiment. Further work will be necessary before this can be elucidated.