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Amphibian myiasis. Blowfly larvae (Lucilia bufonivora, Diptera: Calliphoridae) coping with the poisonous skin secretion of the common toad (Bufo bufo)

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Abstract

The blowfly Lucilia bufonivora shows high host specificity for toads despite the host’s toxic skin secretion, which consists mainly of bufadienolides. These toxins are effective blockers of the Na+, K+-ATPase, an enzyme that is essential for many physiological processes in animals. Whereas common toad (Bufo bufo) toxins were identified in the larvae of the fly, few toxins were found in the pupae and empty puparia as trace amounts, while adult flies were entirely free of these toxic compounds. Similar results were obtained when larvae of generalist necrophagous blowflies (L. sericata, Calliphora vicina) fed on toad carcasses. Analysis of the Na+, K+-ATPase gene revealed no amino acid substitution at positions known to mediate resistance to bufadienolides in other systems. Alternative mechanisms of resistance such as efficient excretion of the compounds may enable the flies to use this poisonous food source.

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Acknowledgments

We are thankful to Vera Wagschal for her help in sequencing the Na+, K+-ATPase gene and to Dr. Sara DeLeon, Drexel University, Philadelphia, PA, for improving the English language of the manuscript.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Institute of Legal Medicine, University of Frankfurt, Kennedyallee 104, 60596, Frankfurt, Germany

    Dietrich Mebs, Werner Pogoda, Stefan W. Toennes, Jens Amendt & Barbara K. Zajac

  2. Ecology and Evolutionary Biology, Corson Hall, Cornell University, Ithaca, NY, 14853, USA

    Georg Petschenka

  3. Biozentrum Grindel, University of Hamburg, Martin-Luther-King Platz 3, 20146, Hamburg, Germany

    Georg Petschenka & Susanne Dobler

Authors
  1. Dietrich Mebs
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  2. Georg Petschenka
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  3. Werner Pogoda
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  4. Stefan W. Toennes
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  5. Jens Amendt
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  6. Barbara K. Zajac
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  7. Susanne Dobler
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Correspondence to Dietrich Mebs.

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Handling Editor: Michael Heethoff.

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Mebs, D., Petschenka, G., Pogoda, W. et al. Amphibian myiasis. Blowfly larvae (Lucilia bufonivora, Diptera: Calliphoridae) coping with the poisonous skin secretion of the common toad (Bufo bufo). Chemoecology 24, 159–164 (2014). https://doi.org/10.1007/s00049-014-0157-2

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s00049-014-0157-2

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