Calliphora

Hurst (19) discusses the similarity in action of the pyrethrins and of DDT as indicated by a dispersant action on the lipids of insect cuticle and internal tissue. He has developed an elaborate theory of contact insecticidal action but provides no experimental data. Hurst believes that the susceptibility to insecticides depends partially on the cuticular permeability, but more fundamentally on the effects on internal tissue receptors which control oxidative metabolism or oxidative enzyme systems. The access of pyrethrins to insects, for example, is facilitated by adsorption and storage in the lipophilic layers of the epicuticle. The epicuticle is to be regarded as a lipoprotein mosaic consisting of alternating patches of lipid and protein receptors which are sites of oxidase activity. Such a condition exists in both the hydrophilic type of cuticle found in larvae of Calliphora and Phormia and in the waxy cuticle of Tenebrio larvae. Hurst explains pyrethrinization as a preliminary narcosis or knockdown phase in which oxidase action is blocked by adsorption of the insecticide on the lipoprotein tissue components, followed by death when further dispersant action of the insecticide results in an irreversible increase in the phenoloxidase activity as a result of the displacement of protective lipids. This increase in phenoloxidase activity is accompanied by the accumulation of toxic quinoid metabolites in the blood and tissues—for example, O-quinones which would block substrate access to normal enzyme systems. The varying degrees of susceptibility shown by different insect species to an insecticide may be explainable not only in terms of differences in cuticle make-up but also as internal factors associated with the stability of oxidase systems. 

Xanthommatin (58) is detected in blowflies of the genera Calliphora and Protophormia beside xanthurenic acid (52) and kynurenic acid (53) in the latter... 

Table V). Some pteridines are found in species of Calliphora, Chrysomya, and Lucilia in addition to uric acid (95) in the last species (Table VI). 

Kaib M. (1974) Die fleisch- ubd blumenduftrezeptoren auf der antenne der schmeiszfliege Calliphora vicina. J. Comp. Physiol. 95, 105-121. 

Distler P. G., Bausenwein B. and Boeckh J. (1998) Localization of odor-induced neuronal activity in the antennal lobes of the blowfly Calliphora vicina a [3H] 2-deoxyglucose labeling study. Brain Res. 805, 263-266. 

Putman, R. J. (1977). Dynamics of the blowfly, Calliphora erythrocephala, within carrion. /. Anim. Ecol. 46, 853-866. 

Carvalho, F., Dadour, I. R., Groth, D. M., and Harvey, M. L. (2005). Isolation and detection of ingested DNA from the immature stages of Calliphora dubia (Diptera Calliphoridae). Forensic Sci. Med. Pathol. 1, 261-265. 

The CHCs of the blow-fly Phormia regina are complex mixtures of saturated n-, monomethyl- and dimethylalkanes with 23-33 carbon atoms. These CHCs do not appear to change with age or diet, and differ only slightly between the sexes (Byrne et al, 1995 Stoffolano et al., 1997). Males show the same strong copulatory response to dummies covered with the extract of either sex but a very reduced response to hexane-washed flies (Stoffolano et al., 1997). In Calliphora vomitoria, the situation is less clear. Ablation of the female corpora allata or of the ovaries leads to an increase in the proportion of monomethylalkanes. However, these two procedures induce divergent effects on male attraction. Moreover, when hydrocarbon production was unchanged, male attraction was... 

J.-L. (1994). Effects of allatectomy and ovariectomy on cuticular hydrocarbons in Calliphora vomitoria (Diptera). Arch. Insect Biochem. Physiol., 25, 363-373. 

Trabalon, M., Campan, M., Porcheron, P., Clement, J.-L., Baehr, J.-C., Moriniere, M. and Joulie, C. (1990). Relationships among hormonal changes, cuticular hydrocarbons, and attractiveness during the first gonadotropic cycle of the female Calliphora vomitoria (Diptera). Gen. Comp. Endocrinol., 80, 216-222. 

Figure 8. Planar structure of dieldrin and partial structures of some dieldrin analogs (each containing six chlorine atoms) referred to in the text. Table below gives toxicities for dechlorinated derivatives of dieldrin (see key in figure) to adult female blowflies, Calliphora erythrocephala. Similar superscripts indicate significant difference at 95%...

Ecdysteroids are generally regarded as not being able to penetrate insect cuticle readily [179], However, the rice stem borer, C. suppressalis, has a thin cuticle which allows ecdysteroids to penetrate when ligated last instar larvae are dipped into a methanolic solution of the test compound for 5 s [180], The proportion of pupated abdomina are assessed after 48 h. This assay is less sensitive than the Calliphora bioassay, but is easier to perform. Its main application has been in screening plant extracts for the presence of phytoecdysteroids [74],... 

Calliphora vicinaa ponasterone A muristerone A 20-hydroxyecdysone makisterone A inokosterone... 

The sterols of starfish, which are typically A7-compounds, are thought to be derived from dietary A5-compounds, and it has been shown177 that two species of starfish can convert cholest-5-en-3/3-ol and sitosterol into their A7-analogues. However, de novo synthesis of squalene, lanosterol, and 5a-cholest-7-en-3j8-ol from [2-14C]MVA has been demonstrated178 in various starfish species, but it is of particular interest that the C26, C28, and C29 sterols were not labelled. The direct conversion of cholest-5-en-3/3-ol into 5 -cholest-7-en-3/3-ol in Calliphora eryth-rocephala has been demonstrated.179... 

Epoxide rings of alkene and arene compounds are hydrated to form trans-diols. The enzymes that catalyze the addition of a molecule of water to an epoxide ring to yield diols are called epoxide hydrolases (also known as epoxide hydrases). Epoxide hydrolase activity has been detected in numerous species of insects. Enzymatic epoxide hydration of certain cyclodiene insecticides and their analogs has been demonstrated in the housefly, blowfly (Calliphora erythrocephala), yellow mealworm (Tenebrio molitor), Madagascar cockroach (Gromphadorhina portentosa), southern army worm (Spodoptera eridania), and red flour beetle (Tribolium castaneum). Epoxide hydrolase is also important in the metabolism of juvenile... 

Gunn, J., Shelly, C., Lewis, S.W., Toop, T., Archer, M. The determination of morphine in the larvae of Calliphora stygia using flow injection analysis and HPLC with chemiluminescence detection. J. Anal. Toxicol. 30, 519-523 (2006)... 

Arthropod Sterols.—The absence of sterol biosynthesis has been observed in further examples from the class ArachnidaT The conversion of /5-sitosterol back to cholesterol was demonstrated in bees and in locusts/ where it was shown that fucosterol, but not 24-methylenecholesterol, was probably a precursor of desmosterol and cholesterol. Some interconversions of pregnane, andros-tane, and oestrane steroids have been examined in the cricket.The stages in the oxidation of the side-chain of ecdysone hormones have been studied in several species. In Calliphora, the sequence of oxidation seems to be hydroxylation at C-25, C-22,and C-20 i.e. (115)— (116)— (117)— (118). The last step, conversion... 

Kynurenine and 3-hydroxykynurenine are the precursors or chromogens of the pigments. One of them, xanthommatin, was obtained from the eyes of insects 7800 heads of Calliphora erythrocephala gave 19 mg of the pigment (B32). Xanthommatin was also isolated from the molting secretion of Vanessa urticae 10,000 butterflies yielded 100 mg of the substance (B30). 

The amounts of the two substances originally present in the urine were higher than those actually isolated. It must be emphasized, however, that tryptophan metabolites have rarely been extracted from urine when neither special diets nor supplementary tryptophan are used. Furthermore, urine of hemoblastotic patients can be considered, together with Calliphora erythrocephala pupae, as one of the rare natural sources of 3-hydroxykynurenine. 

Besides peptides that are presented by MHC molecules to prime/activate T cells, there is another family of peptides responsible for immune response modulation and rejection of tumor cells. Alloferon 1 (HGVSGHGQHGVHG), a peptide isolated from the hemolymph of experimentally infected insect Calliphora vicina, showed an antiviral and antitumor activity in mice. Although immunomodulatory properties of the peptide remain to be clarified in detail, it is suggested that alloferon 1 has a significant capacity to stimulate NK cell activity and IFN synthesis in murine and human models [334]. 

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