Effects of Agitation on Hatch Rate of Lucilia cuprina Eggs (Diptera: Calliphoridae)

Authors

  • Brent Neale Goebel Texas A&M University

Abstract

Blow flies are important for their use in Maggot Debridement Therapy (MDT) to treat patients’ wounds. Many different sterilization techniques are used on their eggs in a process to reduce the transfer of bacteria from the maggots to the patients. Agitation can be used in an attempt to disrupt the biofilm of bacteria found on an egg’s surface. In this study, Lucilia cuprina eggs were collected and the effects of agitation on hatch rates was tested. After collection, eggs were put on filters, covered in an insect saline solution and put through two treatments: (1) a control with no agitation soaking in saline for five minutes and (2) an agitation treatment at 5 rpm soaking in saline for five minutes. Afterwards they were rinsed with leftover saline and plated in nutrient agar cups to observe the hatching process. Agitated eggs had significantly lower hatch rates than the non-agitated control treatment. These data showed that agitation had an adverse effect on mortality of the fly eggs, but provided no information on the effect on bacterial life. The importance of this study cannot be fully understood without knowing how agitation affects the bacteria found on the tested fly eggs.

Author Biography

Brent Neale Goebel, Texas A&M University

Undergraduate in the Entomology department

References

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Published

2017-06-12