I. B. Tarshis.
Transporting Live Hippoboscids (Diptera).
Psyche 61(2):58-62, 1954.

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TRANSPORTING LIVE HIPPOBOSCIDS (DIPTERA) BY I. BARRY TARSHIS
Entomology Branch, Camp Detrick, Frederick, Maryland During my investigations of the biology of Stilbornetopa impressa (Bigot) and Lynchia hirsuta Ferris, Hippobos- cidae of California quail, Lophortyx calfornica californica (Shaw and Nodder) (Tarshis, 1953), it was necessary to transport live flies from the field to the laboratory. Three different methods were evolved, which, together with the necessary equipment, are described herewith. 1. Transporting Live Flies on Quail. The most satisfac- tory and the easiest method of transporting live flies from the field to the laboratory after removal of the flies from wild trapped quail (Tarshis, 1952), was the placing of the flies on quail in fly-proof cages. Quail used for transport- ing flies were brought into the field from the home labora- tory as it is a usual requirement that all trapped quail be released in the area from which they are taken, after the flies are removed and all other necessary procedures or observations are completed.
When the flies are to be introduced in the feathers, the bird is placed on its back in the palm of the hand and its left wing is raised (this will be the wing towards the worker's right).
The total number of flies to be placed on the bird are slid out of a shell vial into the crotch formed by the bird's wing and body. The wing is then carefully folded back over the flies and held closed so that the flies will not escape. The bird is laid on its back in the cage and the hand very gently removed. If this procedure is meticu- lously followed the bird will remain motionless for at least 'From the Department of Entomology and Parasitology, University of California, Berkeley, California.
The author wishes to express sincere appreciation to Dr. M. A. Stewart of the University of California, Dr. J. Bequaert of Harvard University, and Dr. C. M. Herman of the Fish and Wildlife Service for the interest and help extended by them to the author during the course of his in- veatigations.
Ps\rht 61:SÌö-6 (K5.1). hup iipsychu enlclub arg/61ibl-O58 html



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19541 Tarshis - Hippoboscids 59
five to ten minutes. Laying the bird on its back in this manner seems to put it in a state of hypnosis, and mean- while the flies readily scurry under the feathers. SHEET ME
TRAY
STRIPPING
Fig. 1.
Fly-proof cage used for transporting quail and live flies from the field to the laboratory.
Only a limited number of flies should be placed on one bird f'or each trip. One adult quail will tolerate as many as 15 flies of either species of hippoboscid, and a juvenile bird about 10 flies. Birds on which 25 or more flies were placed died of exsanguination.
It was found most desirable to place only one bird carry- ing flies in each cage. The more birds that are kept in a cage the greater the risk that flies leaving the birds for deposition of prepuparia or for other reasons will be cap- tured or trampled on by the birds. Also, with more than one bird in a cage there is always a great deal of commotion which especially disturbs the gravid female flies, often causing them to deposit their young prematurely. If space is extremely limited two birds may be placed in a single cage, but never more.
The cage shown in Fig. 1 has been found most suitable for transporting live flies on birds. It has an exactly 1 x 1-inch fir stock framework covered on five sides with



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60 Psyche [June
No. 16 mesh bronze screen cloth. The bottom of the cage has a %-inch galvanized hardware cloth floor with a No. 28 gauge galvanized sheet metal collection tray placed on runners 1-inch below this floor. The front of the cage is fitted with a sliding galvanized sheet metal door (No. 28 2. Shipping Live Flies by Mail.
Mailing live flies in
cardboard mailing tubes was also tried by the author, but did not prove as successful as the preceding method or the third method described below.
The captured flies were placed in shell vials (24 mm.
wide and 95 mm. long) stoppered with perforated, screened corks. These corks were made by removing a large center core from each and then gluing a circle of 1/16-inch mesh nylon bobbinette over the opening on the bottom of the cork. Several of these vials were placed in an 8-inch card- board mailing tube, cork end up. The metal mailing tube lid was perforated in several places and the underneath surface of the lid was lined with No. 16 mesh bronze screen cloth to prevent loss of flies if a vial broke in transit. The perforated corked vials were next to the perforated mail- ing tube lid which enabled the flies to get a sufficient amount of air. The bottom of the mailing tube and the spaces between the vials were tightly packed with cotton to prevent rattling or breakage. Where air mail service is available this method is quite adequate, but it is not very satisfactory with ordinary first class or second class postal service. Since hippoboscid flies cannot live long away from the host speed is of prime importance in transporting flies by mail.
3. Shipping Live Flies in a, Cold Temperature Cabinet. This third method for transporting live hippoboscid flies was found to be very satisfactory. The technique was adapted from one used by Geigy (1948) to ship adult tsetse flies of the species Gloss-im palpalis. Geigy devised and used a cold temperature cabinet, which was adjusted to be kept at 8' C.
(46.8' F.) , to send adult flies from
tropical Africa (Congo) to Basle, Switzerland, via air express.
The present author used the modified cabinet (Fig. 2) to



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transport flies by automobile from various field stations to headquarters (distances of 70 to 300 miles). An Arctic Hamper was the basis for the cold temperature cabinet and a wooden stand with a wire basket was placed in the Fig. 2. Cut-away view of Arctic Hamper converted to cold temperature cabinet for transporting live flies from the field to the laboratory. hamper. A 20-pound piece of ice was placed on the floor of the hamper to keep the temperature around 45' F. Adult flies of both species of quail Hippiboscidae were placed in vials with screened corks (the same vials as used for mail- ing flies). The vials were placed in racks which fitted
into the wire basket in the hamper. The wooden stand was high enough above the ice that the vials did not get wet as the ice melted.
Flies shipped in the cold Arctic Hamper become rigid and motionless but revive quickly after 10 minutes in a



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62 Psyche [June
constant temperature cabinet set at 78OF. or when kept at room temperature (70å¡F. for a period upwards to 60 minutes.
LITERATURE CITED
GEIGY, R.
Elevage de Glossina palpalis. Acta Tropica, 5 :201-218. I. B.
Equipment and methods for the collection of hippoboscid flies from trapped California valley quail, Lophortyx califomica vallicola (Ridgway), (Diptera). Bull. Brooklyn Ent. Soc., 47 :69-78.
The transmission of Huemoproteus lophortyx O'Roke of the valley California quail by hippoboscid flies of the species Stilbometopa impressu (Bigot) and Lynchia hirsuta Ferris and the elucidation of the biology of these ectoparasites. Manu- script of Ph.D. Thesis, Deposited in Library, University of California, Berkeley, California.




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