Evidence for an attractant in cuticular lipids of femaleLucilia cuprina (Wied.), Australian sheep blowfly.

Various nonpolar and weakly polar organic solvent extracts of femaleLucilia cuprina caused more flies to be trapped in conical flasks, placed in cages of blowflies, than in untreated flasks or in flasks treated with similar extracts of maleL. cuprina. This is attributed to an attractant present in the extracts of female flies, and since more females than males tended to be trapped, the attractant (or pheromone) possibly plays a role in the group oviposition behavior exhibited by this species. The data from experiments and gas-liquid chromatography (GLC) examinations of dichloromethane and hexane extracts of flies suggest that the attractant is a cuticular lipid.