Behavioral response of house fly to natural products Vol 48 No. 3 May 2017 561 Correspondence: Kom Sukontason, Department of Parasitology, Faculty of Medicine, Chiang Mai University, Chiang Mai 50200, Thailand. E-mail: kom.s@cmu.ac.th BEHAVIORAL RESPONSE OF HOUSE FLY, MUSCA DOMESTICA L. (DIPTERA: MUSCIDAE) TO NATURAL PRODUCTS Sorawit Upakut 1,2 , Kabkaew L Sukontason 1 , Nophawan Bunchu 3 , Roberto M Pereira 4 and Kom Sukontason 1 1 Department of Parasitology, Faculty of Medicine, Chiang Mai University, Chiang Mai; 2 School of Medical Sciences, University of Phayao, Phayao; 3 Department of Microbiology and Parasitology, Faculty of Medical Science, Naresuan University, Phitsanulok, Thailand; 4 Entomology and Nematology Department, University of Florida, Gainesville, Florida, USA Abstract. The house fy Musca domestica L. (Diptera: Muscidae) is a medically important insect worldwide because adults are an annoyance and mechanical car- riers of various pathogens, and the larvae cause myiasis in humans and animals. In order to efciently control fy populations, information on the most suitable baits to attract adult fies, either for food source or reproductive success of ovi- position, is essential. We investigated the behavioral response of this fy species, using a dual-choice wind tunnel (T-box), to natural products, both of animal and plant origins. Correlation between wind speed and fy response showed that the wind speed set at 0.4 m/s was the optimal speed for T-box testing with this spe- cies. One hundred 5 to 7 day-old adult males or females deprived of food and water for 15 hours were transferred into a clean rearing cage for 5 minutes. Two hundred grams of a natural product (41 in total) were introduced into the cage, and response to the natural product was considered positive when the fies landed and/or stayed on the natural product within 5 minutes of placement in the cage. The natural products that attracted > 50% of fies were used as the candidate odor sources for further study in the T-box experiments. Only 12/41 natural attracted > 50% of the fies in the 5 minutes observation period, with fresh beef viscera be- ing the most attractive for both sexes (≥74%). These 12 natural products were then assessed for their attractiveness in the T-box using a wind speed of 0.4 m/s, and the assay indicated that fresh beef viscera was still the most attractive product to lure fies. Finally, we compared the three most attractive products for house fy (1 st - fresh beef viscera, 2 nd - ripe banana, 3 rd - fresh beef liver) against each other. Fly preferred the fresh beef viscera as the most attractive product in direct com- parison with the other two products. Information on luring and trapping adult house fy can be used in the development of a suitable attractant bait to be used in fy population control programs. Keywords: Musca domestica L., bait, behavioral response, control, house fy