Muscina stabulans (Fallén) is a synanthropic fly commonly found in decomposing animal matter. Once food resources are exhausted, larvae will disperse in search for a suitable place to pupariate or for an additional source of food. The behavior of propagation of postfeeding L3 larvae was studied by analyzing the distance of propagation, the depth of pupariation site, the pupal weight and sex ratio using a 50 cm circular arena divided in four quadrants, and filled with a 10 cm thick layer of humid sawdust. The total of 70.9% of the larvae pupariate up to 20 cm away from the arena's center, with 41.8% of them from 2.1 cm to 4.0 cm deep. Pupae that did not yield adults were lighter, and were originated by larvae that moved longer away and dug deeper to pupariate in relation to those from which adults emerged.
Larval dispersal; distance of propagation; depth of pupariation
