2nd Place: Characterizing the multi-modal host cue complex that attracts stable flies, Stomoxys calcitrans

The stable fly, Stomoxys calcitrans, is a severe blood-feeding pest of cattle. Like many haematophagous insects, stable flies may utilize multiple sensory modalities to locate and recognize their hosts. As shown in previous research, host-seeking flies exploit visual and olfactory cues to locate, and alight on, hosts. Thermal and moisture host cues, which are known to induce settling and probing behaviour by flies, may likewise prompt long(er)-range attraction of flies during host-foraging. While it is evident that host-foraging stable flies respond to a multimodal host cue complex, the relative contribution of each cue for attraction of flies has yet to be characterized. In two-choice assays, inside a greenhouse compartment, we presented starved stable flies with two cue complexes that differed in visual, thermal, olfactory and moisture characteristics. Preliminary data indicate that a bimodal cue complex of visual and thermal cues elicits greater attraction/alighting responses from host foraging stable flies than either cue alone. Further characterization of stable fly responses to multi-modal host cue complexes was ongoing at the time that abstract submission was due. Understanding the key cues that stable flies exploit to locate hosts is essential for informing the design of most effective stable fly traps.