Musca domestica L. is a non-biting nuisance fly that is capable of transmitting a large variety of pathogens to humans and non-human animals. Natural compounds and their derivatives, which are often less toxic than entirely synthetic compounds, may be used as repellents against M. domestica as part of comprehensive pest control and disease mitigation programs. This work investigates the repellent properties of the natural compound α-pinene against M. domestica. Adult house flies of both sexes avoided the volatile plant-derived terpenes (1S)-(-)-α-pinene 1 and (1R)-(+)-α-pinene 2 in constant air flow laboratory conditions, with 1 exhibiting a stronger repellent effect. House flies also avoided tarsal contact with filter paper saturated with 1. Furthermore, both 1 and 2 are electrophysiologically active on in situ female house fly antennal preparations. These findings demonstrate that α-pinene exhibits natural baseline repellency against the house fly, elicits a specific physiological response in this fly, and that functional or structural modification of 1 in particular may yield novel fly repellents with desirable properties.
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http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.phytochem.2015.07.004 | DOI Listing |
J Forensic Sci
January 2025
Department of Entomology, Texas A&M University, College Station, Texas, USA.
The house fly, Musca domestica, L. (Diptera: Muscidae), is a filth fly that is often associated with criminal and civil investigations surrounding abuse, neglect, and death of humans and other vertebrates. However, development data, which are crucial for determining the age of immatures collected under forensically relevant circumstances, are limited.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFEnviron Sci Pollut Res Int
January 2025
Gut Biology Laboratory, Room No. 117, Department of Zoology, University of Delhi, New Delhi, 110007, India.
The transmission of antibiotic resistance (AR) from farm animals to healthy human communities, beyond the food chain, is often facilitated by biological vectors, notably houseflies (Musca domestica). This study aimed to evaluate the role of M. domestica collected from commercial broiler chicken farms as a carrier of multidrug-resistant (MDR), extended-spectrum β-lactamase (ESBL)-producing Escherichia coli.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFProc Natl Acad Sci U S A
January 2025
Department of Cell & Developmental Biology, School of Biological Sciences, University of California San Diego, La Jolla, CA 92093.
A spectacular diversity of forms and features allow species to thrive in different environments, yet some structures remain relatively unchanged. Insect compound eyes are easily recognizable despite dramatic differences in visual abilities across species. It is unknown whether distant insect species use similar or different mechanisms to pattern their eyes or what types of genetic changes produce diversity of form and function.
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January 2025
Cresset, New Cambridge House, Bassingbourn Road, Litlington SG8 0O5, Cambridgeshire, United Kingdom.
Recent increases in the availability of computational power have improved the accessibility of ligand-protein relative binding free energy (RBFE) calculations; however, these calculations remain resource-intensive, which can limit their practical application. RBFE calculations typically use a set of thermodynamic intermediates mediated by the transformation coordinate λ. Optimizing λ offers a way to tune the computational efforts required for a given RBFE calculation.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFJ Econ Entomol
January 2025
United States Department of Agriculture, Agricultural Research Service, Center for Grain and Animal Health Research, Arthropod-Borne Animal Diseases Research Unit, Manhattan, KS, USA.
House flies, Musca domestica L. (Diptera: Muscidae), are commonplace pests in both urban and agricultural settings. The potential for house flies as vectors of many disease-causing organisms to humans and animals, coupled with their incessant nuisance behaviors toward these hosts has resulted in a desire to manage their populations.
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