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25 August 2024 Brighteness-dependent visual attractiveness of the human body for horse flies (Diptera: Tabanidae): a field experiment
Attila Balogh, Matúš Kúdela
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Abstract

The landing patterns of blood-sucking females (Diptera: Tabanidae) are largely influenced by their visual perceptions. When attacking humans, the shape of different body parts and overall brightness of the body could be the factors determining the place of blood-sucking.The visual attractiveness of the human body for tabanids was investigated through a black and a white mannequin in the Danube floodplain, Slovakia. The mannequins were covered by glue once a week. On both of the mannequins, 332 horse flies were stuck. The trapped horse flies on the mannequins belong to the genera Tabanus Linnaeus, 1758, Hybomitra Enderlein, 1922, Chrysops Meigen, 1803, Haematopota Linnaeus, 1758 and Atylotus (Linnaeus, 1767). Based on the trapped tabanids, the black mannequin is 6.06 times more attractive than the white one. The most tabanid carcasses were found on the lower limbs (56.32%) and the least occurred on the head (2.1%), the difference in their occurrence between the lower limbs and head of both mannequins was significant (P < 0.001). A similar significant difference was observed on certain parts of both mannequins on the taxonomical level of the genera Tabanus, Hybomitra, and Atylotus, the carcasses of which aggregated mostly on the lower limbs, rather than on the upper limbs and head.

Graphical Abstract

img-ATv_1368.jpg

The visual attractiveness of the human body of tabanids was investigated through black and white mannequins covered by glue. Based on the trapped tabanids, the black mannequin is 6.06 times more attractive than the white one.The most attractive parts of the human body are the lower limbs, and the least attractive area is the head. 54 × 30 mm (600 × 600 DPI)

Attila Balogh and Matúš Kúdela "Brighteness-dependent visual attractiveness of the human body for horse flies (Diptera: Tabanidae): a field experiment," Journal of Medical Entomology 61(6), 1368-1372, (25 August 2024). https://doi.org/10.1093/jme/tjae104
Received: 26 April 2024; Accepted: 8 August 2024; Published: 25 August 2024
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KEYWORDS
attacking
blood-sucking
sticky mannequin
tabanid
visual attraction
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