117 



Results of studies with Herrr.etia illucens and Qvkyra aenescens. 

 When the number of 0. aenescens iarvae per replication was equal to or 

 less than the number of h. illucens larvae, the larval mortality of 

 0. aenescens increased significantly, but the mortality of h. illucens 

 larvae was not significantly affected (Table 17). When larvae of 0. 

 aenescens outnumbered those of H. illucens, the larval mortality of 

 0. aenescens was not affected, but the mortality of H. illucens was 

 increased by a nonsignificant amount. This indicates that the larval 

 development of 0. aenescens can be suppressed, but not prevented, by 

 the presence of H. illucens in the larval medium. This has not been 

 demonstrated in the field. 



Results of studies with Hermetia illucens and Musca domestica- 

 Larvae of H. illucens were not able to completely prevent the develop- 

 ment of larvae of M. domestica when the two species were reared together 

 (Table 18). The mortality of M. domestica was increased to 90.0 and 

 86.0% when 25 larvae were reared with 25 and 50 larvae of H. illucens 

 respectively. These were significant increases over control mortality. 



Control mortality was high because house fly eggs were used instead 

 of first-instar larvae, but at the time, additional larvae of H. illucens 

 were not available and the experiment could not be repeated. 



The ability of these two species to develop in the same containers 

 during this experiment, but not during others, may have been due to 

 variables such as container size, number of larvae per unit area of 

 medium, and moisture content of the larval medium. Larvae of H. illucens 

 tended to remain on the bottoms of the cups of medium, perhaps the 

 wettest location in the cups. House fly larvae tended to remain in the 

 upper two thirds of the cups of medium, perhaps seeking drier areas than 



