Growth of Musca domestica (Diptera: Muscidae) and Sarcophaga dux (Diptera: Sarcophagidae) larvae in poultry and livestock manures: Implication for animal waste management

Natural diets commonly exploited by the flies are animal manures including production from the poultry and livestock facilities. The larvae of the common filth flies such as Musca domestica and Sarcophaga dux are known as voracious feeders and may thus be used to convert manures into non-polluted residue. This study was conducted to observe the impact on flies' growth rate and capability of the larvae to process animal manures using chicken, goat and cow manures. One hundred newly hatched larvae of M. domestica and S. dux were introduced separately into 150 g manures under laboratory conditions. The initial wet mass and larvae length were recorded while mortality rate and dry mass were measured after the larvae were placed into the manures. The results showed that the manure types give significant effects (p < .05) on the growth of M. domestica and S. dux larvae. Cow manures and chicken manures contributed the highest growth for M. domestica and S. dux respectively. This result confirmed by the mean increment in wet mass and larvae length. In contrast, M. domestica greatly reduced 59.9 +/- 4% chicken manures while 25.0 +/- 1.8% goat manures reduced by S. dux. The potential of M. domestica and S. dux larvae to reduce animal waste products were further discussed in this study.