About This Project
For those visiting nature refuges or beaches along the east coast of the US has been attacked by biting horse or deer flies. Presently, there are no effective control measures to stop the flies. The biggest limitation to improving control is the inability to raise the flies in the laboratory. I propose to collect multiple fly species and then use techniques for culturing marine bacteria and invertebrates to raise fly larvae. This is the first step to develop new control approaches.
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Join The DiscussionWhat is the context of this research?
Deer and horse fly adults (Family Tabanidae) bite humans and other animals in an effort to obtain blood for producing eggs. The flies are relentless, often repeatedly biting the same individual multiple times. It is not uncommon for humans to be chased from beaches or other outdoor activities because the bites are very painful and the fly attacks are long lasting. Pets and livestock suffer in a similar way. But the impact of tabanids goes beyond just an annoyance. Depending on location, adult flies are known to transmit tularemia, anthrax, filarial worms, trypanosomes, and equine infectious anaemia virus. Biting activity can also reduce growth rates and milk production in cattle and other livestock. At present, there are no effective control measures for biting flies.
What is the significance of this project?
The biggest impediment to developing more effective control methods for biting flies is that they are very difficult to study in their natural setting. Eggs, larvae and pupae are distributed throughout largely unreachable regions of saltmarshes. Attempts to culture these flies have largely because they have been treated like terrestrial insects rather than aquatic, which has also been true of the food types tested. The key to developing new and effective control methods is to be able to raise and study the biology of the flies. This study will have an enormous impact on all future studies of biting flies by providing a method for culturing biting flies continuously in the laboratory. The result will be new control methods for the flies, reducing the incidences of biting and disease.
What are the goals of the project?
The primary objective of this research is to develop methods for raising biting flies from the Family Tabanidae in the laboratory. Field collections will be performed to obtain several development stages (eggs, larvae, pupae and adults) of multiple species of deer and horse flies breeding in saltmarshes along the eastern coastal region of central and southern Delaware. A range of food types (live vs. dead worms, insects, bacterial media) , environmental conditions (temperature, photoperiod, etc.), and substrates (soil, sand, bacterial media) will be tested for suitability to promote egg hatch, larval growth, and adult fly reproduction. The intent is to develop an efficient and affordable method for culturing biting flies in the laboratory, which is necessary for future study of tabanids.
Budget
Field collection of biting flies requires collections from multiple locations and sites because there is no way to tell where larvae or pupae are located within saltmarshes since they are buried under layers of sediment. This basic research is focused on developing methods for raising all developmental stages of biting flies in the laboratory, and is the type of research that is not normally funded through government agencies or private foundations. The funds needed to complete the project are modest and all items purchased or constructed can be used multiple times and for other projects involving biting flies. This is especially important because once a rearing method is developed, experiments will begin on approaches to reduce the fly populations, with particular emphasis placed on natural enemies of the flies, like parasitic wasps and predatory insect species.
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David Rivers
David Rivers is a professor of Biology at Loyola University Maryland, where he has taught and conducted research for the past 21 years. He trained as an insect physiologist at Ohio State University and conducted post doctoral research in molecular and cellular parasitology at the University of Wisconsin. David's research has focused on the biology and physiology of parasitic wasps that utilize manure and carrion breeding flies as hosts, and also on the behavioral and physiological interactions that occur between flies and wasps that feed on decaying animal remains. He has published over 60 articles, book chapters, reviews, and 2 books, and received grant support from the National Science Foundation, United States Department of Agriculture, Forensic Science Foundation, and U.S. Egg and Poultry Association to support his research. His interest in biting flies has developed from years of serving as a source of blood meals during fishing trips and visits to wildlife refuges and beaches in Delaware, Maryland, and Virgina. Many residents of the eastern shore of Maryland have contacted him for help with the flies, and this research endeavor is an effort to provide some relief to those individuals who endure fly attacks each year.
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Project Backers
- 3Backers
- 1%Funded
- $15Total Donations
- $5.00Average Donation