Fróðskaparrit - 01.01.2005, Page 138

The stable fly (Stomoxys calcitrans)
(Diptera: Muscidae) recorded from
the Faroes
Stingflugan (,Stomoxys calcitrans)
(Diptera: Muscidae) skrásett í Føroyum
Søren Achim Nielsen1 and Dorete Bloch2
'Department of Life Sciences and Chemistry, University of Roskilde, RO. Box 260
DK-4000 Roskilde, Denmark. Email: san@ruc.dk.
2Faroese Museum of Natural History, Fútalág 40, FO-IOO Tórshavn, Faroe Islands. Email: doreteb@ngs.fo.
Úrtak
I 2002 varð stingfluga (Stomoxys calcitrans) funnin í
fimm fjósum á Velbastað. Hetta er fyrsta skráseting av
slagnum í Føroyum. Stingfluga víggjar í deytt og rotið
plantutilfar. Liggur mykja, t.d. blandað við hoyggj,
alt árið í íjósinum, og hevur ein hita uppá 18° C, kan
slagið nørast í fjósinum alt árið. Bæði kynini súgva
blóð av ryggdjórum, men best dámar teimum neyt og
onnur kleyvdýr. Eru nógvar stingflugur í Ijósinum,
kann tað ampa neytini, so tey mjólka minni og fara
aftur.
Hugsandi er, at S. calcitrans er komin til Føroya
við innfluttum fóðri. Av tí at fyrsta skrásetingin av,
at fluga hevði bitið mann, varð gjørd í 2002, er
hugsandi, at slagið er komið til Føroya rættiliga stutt
síðani. Um velbastaðarleiðina er slagið vanligt og er
óivað spjatt av teirri orsøk, at bøndur hava flutt neyt
og fóður sínamillum. Fyri at minka um vansarnar við
fluguni er umráðandi at hava tað reint í fjósinum. Fyri
at fáa tamarhald á fluguni verður mælt til at seta út
snultuvespuna Spalangia cameroni.
Summary
The stable fly (Stomoxys calcitrans) was recorded
from the Faroe Islands in 2002 for the flrst time in
flve byres at Velbastaður in the vicinity of Tórshavn.
The stable fly breeds in dead and decomposing plant
material e.g. dung mixed with straw. If the temperature
is higher than 18 °C the species can reproduce all the
year in the byres. Both sexes are blood feeding and
attack vertebrates with preference for cattle and other
ungulates. By high fly population the biting activity
can result in reduction of milk and bodyweight in the
livestock.
S. calcitrans was probably introduced into the
Faroes in imported cattle feed. Since the fírst reports
on flies biting man were received in 2002, the species
was probably recently introduced. In the Velbastaður
area the species is widespread and probably mainly
dispersed by exchange of cattle or forage. To reduce
the fly problem it is important to maintain a high
standard of hygiene in the byres. To control the fly it
is recommended to use releases of the parasitoid wasp
Spalangia cameroni.
Introduction
The stable fly (Stomoxys calcitrans (Lin-
naeus, 1758)) (Diptera: Muscidae) (Fig.
1) is a blood-sucking biting fly mainly
feeding on cattle, but also on horses, pigs,
sheep, man, and other vertebrate hosts
(Thomsen, 1938). Both sexes feed on
blood and due to its painful bite the stable
fly is a very annoying pest of livestock
Fróðskaparrit 53. bók 2005: 136-140