title: Host blood meal identification by multiplex polymerase chain reaction for dispersal evidence of stable flies (Diptera:Muscidae) between livestock facilities.
abstract: A species-specific multiplex polymerase chain reaction targeting the cytochrome b gene of cattle, horses, humans, and dogs was developed to determine the blood meal sources of stable flies, Stomoxys calcitrans (L.), collected from Florida equine facilities. Of 595 presumptive blood-fed stable flies analyzed, successful host amplification was obtained in 350, for a field host-detection efficiency of 58.8%. The majority of analyzed stable flies had fed on cattle (64.6%), followed by horses (24.3%), humans (9.5%), and dogs (1.6%). A survey of animal-enclosed pastures occurring within 3 km of stable fly collection sites revealed that the nearest cattle were between 0.8 and 1.5 km from the four horse farm sampling sites. Cattle-feeding frequencies were greater on farms where cattle were located at distances of 0.8 km, suggesting that between farm differences in host-feeding frequency is related to the number of and distance from a particular host type. Time course evaluations of previously laboratory-fed stable flies demonstrated that host-detection efficiency with this system was 100, 50, and 0% when flies were evaluated at 16, 24, and 48 h postblood feeding, respectively. The results of this study suggest short-term stable fly dispersal of up to 1.5 km in a 48-h time period. The implications of these findings are discussed.
authors.affiliation: Entomology and Nematology Department, University of Florida, 970 Natural Area Drive, Gainesville, FL 32611, USA.
authors.forename: Jimmy B
authors.initials: JB
authors.lastname: Pitzer
authors.forename: Phillip E
authors.initials: PE
authors.lastname: Kaufman
authors.forename: Saundra H
authors.initials: SH
authors.lastname: Tenbroeck
authors.forename: James E
authors.initials: JE
authors.lastname: Maruniak
mesh_terms: D000818:Animals; D001483:Base Sequence; D001774:Blood Chemical Analysis; D002417:Cattle / Q000469:parasitology*; D004285:Dogs; D005431:Florida; D006736:Horses / Q000469:parasitology*; D006790:Host-Parasite Interactions; D006799:Housing, Animal; D006801:Humans; D008969:Molecular Sequence Data; D009117:Muscidae / Q000737:chemistry*; D016133:Polymerase Chain Reaction; D011157:Population Dynamics