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Effects of Air Ions on Duration and Rate of Sustained Flight of the Blowfly, Phoenicia sericata Meigen

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  31 May 2012

M. G. Maw
Affiliation:
Research Institute, Research Branch, Canada Department of Agriculture, Belleville, Ontario

Abstract

That insect flight is influenced by air ions was shown when blowflies, Phoenicia sericata Meigen, were exposed to air ions at ion currents of about 3.4 × 10−11 amp. Positive ions resulted in longer, faster flights than did normal laboratory air, and there were steep increases and decreases in speed. Negative ions resulted in relatively fast, steady flight that usually lasted longer than in positively ionized or in laboratory air. After exposure to positive ions, exposure to alternating polarities resulted in a steady net increase in flight speed but exposure to alternating polarities after exposure to negative ions had no effect on flight.

Type
Articles
Copyright
Copyright © Entomological Society of Canada 1965

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