Many Circadian Oscillators Regulate Developmental and Behavioural Events in the Flesh-Fly, Sarcophaga Argyrostoma

Abstract

In the flesh-fly, Sarcophaga argyrostoma, the initiation of larval wandering, pupal eclosion, and the induction of pupal diapause by seasonal changes in night length, are all regulated by circadian oscillators. They differ, however, in several respects. The rhythm of larval wandering shows a free-running period (S) of about 20 hr and a steady-state phase-relationship to the light cycle (±) in which maximum activity occurs at dusk or in the night; that for pupal eclosion shows ± close to 24 hr and ± close to dawn; and that for diapause induction ± longer than 24 hr and a photoinducible phase (ϕ_i) late in the subjective night. The three oscillators are, therefore, considered to be functionally separate. In addition, adult locomotor activity, the deposition of cuticular growth layers on thoracic apodemes, and the duration of larval wandering, are possibly regulated by further, distinct, oscillators. The circadian system in S. argyrostoma, therefore, contains at least three, and probably as many as six, known circadian pacemakers.