Optimizing the incubation conditions of third-stage larvae of the camel nasal bot Cephalopina titillator (Diptera: Oestridae) for harvesting adult flies

Vet World Vol.17 October-2024 Article - 14

Research Article

Veterinary World, 17(10): 2322-2328

https://doi.org/10.14202/vetworld.2024.2322-2328

Mohammad Nafi Solaiman Al-Sabi¹, Hams Almohammed², Fatema Alghatam², Ghadeer Alhafiz², Omar Al-Jabr², and Ahmed M. A. Meligy^3,4

1. Department of Basic Veterinary Medical Sciences, Faculty of Veterinary Medicine, Jordan University of Science and Technology, P. O. Box 3030, Irbid 22110, Jordan.
2. Department of Microbiology, College of Veterinary Medicine, King Faisal University, P.O. Box 400, Al-Ahsa 31982, Saudi Arabia.
3. Department of Clinical Sciences, Central Lab, College of Veterinary Medicine, King Faisal University, P.O. Box 400, Hofuf, Al-Ahsa 31982, Saudi Arabia.
4. Department of Physiology, Agricultural Research Center (ARC), Giza, Egypt.

Background and Aim: Understanding the developmental conditions of Cephalopina titillator larvae and their effect on the success of pupation and adult emergence can help prevent and control this disease in camels. Incubating C. titillator larvae in vitro requires optimized conditions that have not been adequately reported in the literature. This study aimed to optimize conditions for harvesting adult flies from third-stage larvae (L3).

Materials and Methods: L3 collected from naturally infested camels was washed in sterile saline, weighed, and placed in vials containing local sand. The vials were covered with gauze and incubated at 30^°C–36^°C with 60%–62% relative humidity in an environmental chamber.

Results: A minimum critical weight of 754 mg per larva was found to be essential for the successful eclosion of the adults, regardless of the sex of the emerged flies. The pupariation period lasted 1–8 days (d) and took 5–13 days. Most incubated L3 formed puparia, but most failed to emerge as adults. The success rate of eclosion was 37.1%. The hatched adults survived for up to 18 days, and the females survived longer (12 d; 6–18) than the males (8.1 d; 3–16).

Conclusion: The higher eclosion success tendency of certain sand types might be influenced by the sand’s physical and/ or chemical characteristics. The current in vitro conditions resemble those during the hot seasons and are suitable for harvesting viable adults of C. titillator from L3.

Keywords: camel nasal bot, Cephalopina titillator, eclosion success, in vitro incubation, life span, myiasis.

How to cite this article: Al-Sabi MNS, Almohammed H, Alghatam F, Alhafiz G, Al-Jabr O, and Meligy AMA (2024) Optimizing the incubation conditions of third-stage larvae of the camel nasal bot Cephalopina titillator (Diptera: Oestridae) for harvesting adult flies, Veterinary World, 17(10): 2322-2328.

Received: 2024-07-08 Accepted: 2024-09-19 Published online: 2024-10-17

Corresponding author: Mohammad Nafi Solaiman Al-Sabi E-mail: mnalsabi@just.edu.jo

DOI: 10.14202/vetworld.2024.2322-2328

Copyright: Al-Sabi, et al. This article is an open access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/ by/4.0/), which permits unrestricted use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided you give appropriate credit to the original author(s) and the source, provide a link to the Creative Commons license, and indicate if changes were made. The Creative Commons Public Domain Dedication waiver (http:// creativecommons.org/ publicdomain/zero/1.0/) applies to the data made available in this article, unless otherwise stated.