Precipitation and Temperature Effects on Stable Fly (Diptera: Muscidae) Population Dynamics.

The dynamics of stable fly, Stomoxys calcitrans (L.), populations relative to temperature and precipitation were evaluated in a 13-yr study in eastern Nebraska. During the course of the study, >1.7 million stable flies were collected on an array of 25 sticky traps. A log-normal model using degree-days with a 15 °C threshold and weekly lags 0-4 for temperature and 2-7 for precipitation provided the best fit with the observed data. The relationships of temperature and precipitation to stable fly trap catches were both curvilinear, with maxima at 6.6 degree-day-15 (≈22 °C) and 7.4 mm precipitation per day, respectively. The temperature and precipitation model accounted for 72% of the variance in seasonal trap catches. Published by Oxford University Press on behalf of Entomological Society of America 2017. This work is written by US Government employees and is in the public domain in the US.