PTERIDINE ACCUMULATION IN MUSCA-DOMESTICA

Pteridine accumulation in the head capsule of adult house flies, Musca domestica L., was examined using fluorescence spectroscopy, Fluorescence was affected by age, temperature, size, sex and duration of development, The rate of HCF (head capsule fluorescence, adjusted for size) accumulation in house flies decreased with age, at 17 and 27 degrees C. Flies that developed at 27 degrees C exhibited greater HCF at eclosion than did flies that developed at 17 degrees C. Flies with longer development times at a given temperature had higher HCF at eclosion than did those with shorter development times at that temperature, This difference persisted for the first 15 days of life at 22 and 27 degrees C, In 2-day-old male house flies, rates of oxygen consumption were greater at 27 degrees C than at 17 degrees C by 115%, Oxygen consumption was reduced by 35% through confinement in 1 cm(3) mesh cages, and by 33% through maintenance in total darkness. Log (total oxygen consumption) of males was related to log (HCF) at 27 degrees C but not at 17 degrees C, in experiments in which oxygen consumption was measured periodically, between 24 and 96 h after eclosion, When measured directly at 17 degrees C between ages 24 and 96 h, a significant relationship existed between the log of the oxygen consumed during the photophase period of the experiment, corrected for mean hourly consumption during the scotophase and log (HCF) but not between log (scotophase oxygen consumption) and log (HCF).