Short-term cold storage of house fly (Diptera: Muscidae) embryos: Survival and quality of subsequent stages

Abstract

The survival of Musca domestica L. embryos was assessed after storage at 5°C. Chilling tolerance was influenced by the length of the storage period and by the age of the embryo at the time of low temperature exposure. Embryos placed into cold storage at 3 h of age were able to survive 3 d with little reduction in larval emergence or adult eclosion and vitality. One-hour-old embryos were the least tolerant of chilling and could not survive 1 d at 5°C. Three patterns of chilling injury were expressed. They are characterized as immediate, accumulative, and latent. Expression of immediate and accumulative injury was linked to the age of the embryo at the time of chilling, and the latent type of injury was expressed during the postembryonic stages of development and was related to length of cold exposure. Exposure of the house fly embryos to hypoxic conditions did not increase chilling tolerance, and a hyperoxic environment was detrimental to the use of cold storage as a strategy to increase insect shelf life.