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PresentationsSándor András - year 2 SzIU, Faculty of Veterinary Science, Institute of Biology; ELTE, Természettudományi Kar, Fizikai Intézet, Biofizika Tanszék; ELTE, Természettudományi Kar, Embertani Tanszék Supervisors: Horváth Gábor, Kriska György Various damage caused by blood-sucking ectoparasites causes serious problems worldwide in the keeping of farm animals. This mainly means diseases, a decrease in milk-yield, in the amount of meat and the deterioration of the build, which are all caused by horseflies. A new discovery in the improvement of the tent-shaped horsefly traps used at present can be a determining factor. It is based on the fact that horseflies have positive polarotaxis, i. e. they are attracted to horizontal polarized light.This is because they find a place to lay their eggs on the basis of the horizontally polarized light which is reflected from the surface of the water. Moreover, this positive polarotaxis has an important role in male and female horseflies finding each other and in finding a host animal suitable for sucking blood from. In my research I examined the horsefly-attracting effect of bright, black attracting objects used in tent-shaped horsefly traps having different light polarization which were put at different heights from the ground. The examinations used multiple choice experiments. My aim was to get new information about the visual etology of horseflies, which makes it possible to develop tent-shaped horsefly traps that are more effective than the ones used at present. According to my findings, although the polarotaxis of these insects plays an important role in affecting both male and female horseflies, the contrast of the intensity of light compared to the surroundings is also of great importance in attracting female horseflies (which are ready to suck blood from a farther distance). On the basis of this perception, in my study I put forward a proposal for improving the enticing surface of present-day tent-shaped horsefly traps. List of lectures |