Locomotor Behavior of Sarcophaga bullata in response to various light stimuli Introduction: The species Sarcophaga bullata (flesh fly) is from the Kingdom Animalia, Phylum Arthropoda and Class Insecta. Flesh flies live all over the world, generally in warm, moist climates. The flesh fly goes through the process of complete metamorphosis that consists of four stages: egg, larva (=maggot), pupa, to adult in about eight days. Through these different stages of metamorphosis the flesh fly is a parasite and a self-sustaining organism until it reaches full maturity. The job for the fly is then to disperse the species and reproduce. Flesh flies can be both pests and important aspects to human liv ...view middle of the document...
These elements aid in the reproduction of flesh flies therefore; it is hypothesized that these insects will prefer an environment that is abundant in warmth and light to enable the flies to reproduce effectively. Another hypothesis on the reaction of flesh flies to the different wavelengths of light is that the flesh flies will prefer green light over the red and blue. The reason this was hypothesized was because green appears to be the darkest and warmest color and the color to absorb light the fastest which will allow it to become warmer in a smaller amount of time as opposed to red and blue.Materials and Methods: The materials and methods used to perform the experiments to test the hypothesis are stated as follows. For the first experiment dealing exclusively with white light, a sample of ten larvae were used to run the experiment. The track was set up using a strip of cloth towel that we dampened with water in the bottom. Most of the lights in the lab room were turned off and an electric lamp was set at one end of the track at a distance so that it would provide precisely nine foot candles (fc) at the center using the digital light meter. Four two-minute time trials were run with the larva being collected at the edges of the track at both ends. The larva were started off in the middle and after two minutes, which ever light they went towards they soon fell off the track into cups at the drop-off point of the track at both ends where we could count the number of larva attracted to each color of light. The number of larva on both sides of the center line and the temperature (measured in Celsius) for all three sections of the track is the information recorded. After each trial the light is moved to the other side and placed again at nine foot candles to ensure that the larva are not just traveling because they learned the behavior. For the second experiment the effect of different wavelengths of light on the larvae is being researched and it is patterned after the previous experiment. The track is set up again with a moist cloth towel on the top of the track with the two cups and lamps at both ends. The foot-candles were measured at nine for the middle and the temperature was measure at the sides and the middle of the track with a thermometer. The track and environment remain the same. The variables are the color films place over the lamps. For this experiment red, green and blue are being compared. The trials are run with the red vs. blue films three times through letting each trial go for at least two minutes. We then counted the number in each cup at the ends of each side of the track. The next test was the red vs. green conducting the same three trial and then with the green vs. blue.Results: Results for both of the experiments were developed from the data collected through the trials. For the first experiment the class data shows 96.944% of the larva responding to the light side of the track and 3.056% responding to the d...
