Premium
Intensity and spectral emission as factors affecting the efficacy of an insect electrocutor trap towards the house‐fly
Author(s) -
Roberts A. E.,
Syms P. R.,
Goodman L. J.
Publication year - 1992
Publication title -
entomologia experimentalis et applicata
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 0.765
H-Index - 83
eISSN - 1570-7458
pISSN - 0013-8703
DOI - 10.1111/j.1570-7458.1992.tb01616.x
Subject(s) - radiant flux , fluorescent lamp , wavelength , optics , ultraviolet , brightness , attraction , musca , color temperature , biology , physics , ecology , philosophy , linguistics , larva
Competitive tests were used to determine how the quantitative and spectral characteristics of an electrocutor trap light source affected the attraction of the house‐fly, Musca domestica L. It was found that an increase in the radiant flux (F e ) of the trap lamps due to an increase in radiant area (A), caused a much larger increase in catch than if radiant flux was increased through higher radiant emittance (M e ). The results from electroretinograms recorded in response to different levels of M e were consistent with the idea that at a given wavelength the attractiveness of a lamp is attributable to the quantitative output perceived by the fly. Of nine fluorescent lamps, the most attractive had peak emission at 340 nm. A blue lamp (peak emission 419 nm) attracted less than a third as many flies as the UV emitting lamps, and a white lamp (peak emission 585 nm) attracted fewer than a quarter as many. The corresponding photoreceptor responses were measured using the electroretinogram. At wavelengths above 400 nm the attractiveness of a lamp to a fly appears to be lower relatively than the photoreceptor response. Within the ultraviolet region (300 nm–400 nm) attractiveness is again attributable to the quantitative output perceived by the fly. It is concluded that there is a genuine behavioural preference for lamp emissions in the ultraviolet region.