Abstract
We determined the quantity and chemical composition of cuticular hydrocarbons of different strains, sexes, and ages of buffalo flies, Haematobia exigua. The quantity of cuticular hydrocarbons increased from less than 1 μg/fly for newly emerged flies to over 11 μg/fly in 13-d-old flies. The hydrocarbon chain length varied from C21 to C29, with unbranched alkanes and monounsaturated alkenes the major components. Newly emerged flies contained almost exclusively C27 hydrocarbons. Increasing age was accompanied by the appearance of hydrocarbons with shorter carbon chains and an increase in the proportion of alkenes. 11-Tricosene and 7-tricosene were the most abundant hydrocarbons in mature H. exigua. Cuticular hydrocarbons of H. exigua are distinctly different from those of horn flies, Haematobia irritans. The most noticeable differences were in the C23 alkenes, with the major isomers 11- and 7-tricosene in H. exigua and (Z)-9- and (Z)-5-tricosene in H. irritans, respectively. Cuticular hydrocarbon analysis provides a reliable method to differentiate the two species, which are morphologically difficult to separate. The differences in cuticular hydrocarbons also support their recognition as separate species, H. exigua and H. irritans, rather than as subspecies.
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The authors are grateful to W. M. Doherty (DPI&F), Dr. D. Kemp (CSIRO) and Prof. J. F. Butler (University of Florida) for provision of flies and Meat & Livestock Australia for partial funding.
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Urech, R., Brown, G.W., Moore, C.J. et al. Cuticular Hydrocarbons of Buffalo Fly, Haematobia exigua, and Chemotaxonomic Differentiation from Horn Fly, H. irritans. J Chem Ecol 31, 2451–2461 (2005). https://doi.org/10.1007/s10886-005-7112-1
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s10886-005-7112-1