Odor Deterrent Houdini Fly Study: Prepping the Experiment 

The Houdini Fly, a kleptoparasite, is spreading across the United States. With Dr. Katie Buckley's and the USDA's help, we were sent a pungent compound that attracts the Houdini Fly.
Our experiment takes place in the Pacific Northwest, where there are areas that have the Houdini Fly. Five volunteers will receive Mason bees and two bee houses to place in their yard: one without the odor deterrent (control) and one with the odor deterrent (variable). At the end of the season, we'll be able to answer: "Will it push away the Houdini Fly without pushing away Mason bees?"
The Houdini fly, named after its unique method of escaping from bee nests, parasitizes mason bees. Female Houdini flies lay their eggs in nest cells before the female mason bee can seal the nest. The fly larvae quickly hatch and consume the pollen loaf before the mason bee larvae, which causes them to starve. Once development is complete, the adult Houdini fly inflates its head to break through the mud walls to escape.
agr.wa.gov/departments/insect...

Животные