Abstract
IT is known that houseflies1 and blowflies2 can be kept alive perfectly well on a diet consisting of cane-sugar and water alone. Addition of protein is only essential for the development of eggs. At a temperature of 26° C., Calliphora erythrocephala on a diet of pure water lives only two to three days, on cane-sugar and water one to two months. If cane-sugar is replaced by other sugars, polysaccharides or polyhydric alcohols, it is found that many substances support adult life equally well. One (sorbitol) is actually much better, others are not so good as cane-sugar; whereas many substances are not utilised at all.
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FRAENKEL, G. Utilisation of Sugars and Polyhydric Alcohols by the Adult Blowfly. Nature 137, 237–238 (1936). https://doi.org/10.1038/137237b0
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1038/137237b0
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