Abstract
Six hundred and twelve anthropods from 11 families collected in and around
cattle dung in south-western Australia were screened using a general
antiserum against all developmental stages of Musca vetustissima Walker with
gel precipitin and immunoelectroosmophoresis (IEO) tests. Positive results
were found in Staphylinidae (65%), Histeridae (64%), Carabidae (12%),
Dermaptera (21%) and Lycosidae (27%). The relative proportions of predator
species varied in different sites, but three staphylinids (Leptacinus socius
(Fauvel), Philonthus longicornis Stephens and P. subcingulatus MacLeay) and
one histerid (Saprinus sp.) were widespread and numerous and consistently
had a high proportion of positive results. Compared to precipitin tests, IEO
was found to extend detection times for a single meal from two to five hours
for small staphylinids and from 24 to 36 hours for larger carabids. In
subsamples of P. subcingulatus and Saprinus sp. collected on the same day at
one site, the relative proportions of positive results using IEO and gel
precipitation, respectively, were 74 and 23% for P. subcingulatus and 95 and
53% for Saprinus sp.
Max you survived!!!!
-----Original Message-----
From: Poetryetc: poetry and poetics [mailto:[log in to unmask]] On
Behalf Of Max Richards
Sent: 09 November 2010 23:30
To: [log in to unmask]
Subject: snap: bush fly
In the park just now
the season's first bush fly
touched my face -
a caress, no less -
like a memory roused
of bush flies past:
the one in sweaty Mildura
as I gaped at the Murray
that settled on my tongue
and was hard to spit out;
in Gundagai I allowed
one further and swallowed;
numerous ones that reached
wherever I was moist at the beach
when the insect-repellent aerosol
had mysteriously gone awol.
Some complain of snakes,
man-eating sharks,
fatal lurking redbacks,
tarantulas,
fever-carrying mosquitoes,
creatures poisonous
infesting this region
with diverse contagion.
I merely testify
against the bush fly.
Max Richards in Melbourne
10 November 2010
