Calliphoridae | |
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Male Chrysomya megacephala | |
Scientific classification ![]() | |
Domain: | Eukaryota |
Kingdom: | Animalia |
Phylum: | Arthropoda |
Class: | Insecta |
Order: | Diptera |
Superfamily: | Oestroidea |
Family: | Calliphoridae Brauer & Bergenstamm, 1889 [1] |
Subfamilies | |
The Calliphoridae (commonly known as blow flies, blow-flies, carrion flies, bluebottles, or greenbottles) [5] are a family of insects in the order Diptera, with almost 1,900 known species. The maggot larvae, often used as fishing bait, are known as gentles. [6] The family is known to be polyphyletic, but much remains disputed regarding proper treatment of the constituent taxa, [7] some of which are occasionally accorded family status (e.g., Bengaliidae and Helicoboscidae). [8]
The name blowfly comes from an older English term for meat that had eggs laid on it, which was said to be flyblown. The first known association of the term "blow" with flies appears in the plays of William Shakespeare: Love's Labour's Lost , The Tempest , and Antony and Cleopatra . [9] [10] [5] [11]
Calliphoridae adults are commonly shiny with metallic colouring, often with blue, green, or black thoraces and abdomens. Antennae are three-segmented and aristate. The aristae are plumose their entire length, and the second antennal segment is distinctly grooved. Members of Calliphoridae have branched Rs 2 veins, frontal sutures are present, and calypters are well developed.[ citation needed ]
The characteristics and arrangements of hairlike bristles are used to differentiate among members of this family. All blowflies have bristles located on the meron. Having two notopleural bristles and a hindmost posthumeral bristle located lateral to presutural bristle are characteristics to look for when identifying this family.[ citation needed ]
The thorax has the continuous dorsal suture across the middle, along with well-defined posterior calli. The postscutellum is absent or weakly developed. The costa is unbroken and the subcosta is apparent on the insect. [12] [13] [14]
Most species of blow flies studied thus far are anautogenous; a female requires a substantial amount of protein to develop mature eggs within her ovaries (about 800 μg per pair of ovaries in Phormia regina ). The current theory is that females visit carrion both for protein and egg laying, but this remains to be proven. Blow fly eggs, usually yellowish or white in color, are about 1.5 mm × 0.4 mm, and when laid, look like rice grains. While the female blow fly typically lays 150–200 eggs per batch, she is usually iteroparous, laying around 2,000 eggs during the course of her life. The sex ratio of blow fly eggs is usually 50:50, but one exception is females from two species of the genus Chrysomya (C. rufifacies and C. albiceps), which are either arrhenogenic (laying only male offspring) or thelygenic (laying only female offspring).[ citation needed ]
Hatching from an egg to the first larval stage takes about 8 hours to a day. Larvae have three stages of development (instars); each stage is separated by a molting event. The instars are separable by examining the posterior spiracles, or openings to the breathing system. [15] The larvae use proteolytic enzymes in their excreta (as well as mechanical grinding by mouth hooks) to break down proteins on the livestock or corpse on which they are feeding. Blow flies are poikilothermic – the rate at which they grow and develop is highly dependent on temperature and species. Under room temperature (about 20 °C), the black blow fly Phormia regina can change from egg to pupa in 150–266 hours (six to 11 days). When the third larval stage is complete, it leaves the corpse and burrows into the ground to pupate, emerging as an adult 7–14 days later.[ citation needed ]
Adult blowflies are occasional pollinators, being attracted to flowers with strong odors resembling rotting meat, such as the American pawpaw or dead horse arum. Little doubt remains that these flies use nectar as a source of carbohydrates to fuel flight, but just how and when this happens is unknown. One study showed the visual stimulus a blowfly receives from its compound eyes is responsible for causing its legs to extend from its flight position and allow it to land on any surface. [16]
Larvae of most species are scavengers of carrion and dung, and most likely constitute the majority of the maggots found in such material, although they are not uncommonly found in close association with other dipterous larvae from the families Sarcophagidae and Muscidae, and many other acalyptrate muscoid flies.[ citation needed ]
Predators of blow flies include spiders, [17] beetles, frogs, and birds, including chickens.
In the Chihuahuan desert of Mexico, a fungus, Furia vomitoriae (Rozsypal) Humber (1989) (from the family of Entomophthoraceae) affects bluebottle flies. It forms masses of conidiophores erupting through the intersegmental areas (or clear bands) on the abdominal dorsum of the flies and eventually kills them [18]
About 1,900 species of blow flies are known, with 120 species in the Neotropics, and a large number of species in Africa and Southern Europe.[ citation needed ]
The typical habitats for blow flies are temperate to tropical areas that provide a layer of loose, damp soil and litter where larvae may thrive and pupate.[ citation needed ]
Sources: MYIA, [19] FE, [20] Nomina, [21] A/O DC [22]
This is a selected list of genera from the Palearctic, Nearctic, Malaysia (Japan) and Australasia:
Blowflies have caught the interest of researchers in a variety of fields, although the large body of literature on calliphorids has been concentrated on solving the problem of myiasis in livestock. The sheep blowfly Lucilia cuprina causes the Australian sheep industry an estimated AU$170 million a year in losses.[ citation needed ]
The most common causes of myiasis in humans and animals are the three dipteran families Oestridae, Calliphoridae, and Sarcophagidae. Myiasis in humans is clinically categorized in six ways: dermal and subdermal, facial cavity, wound or trauma, gastrointestinal, vaginal, and generalized. If found in humans, the dipteran larvae are usually in their first instar. The only treatment necessary is just to remove the maggots, and the patient heals naturally. [57] Whilst not strictly a myiasis species, the Congo floor maggot feeds on mammal blood, occasionally human.[ citation needed ]
The New World primary screwworm ( Cochliomyia hominivorax ), once a major pest in Southern United States, has been eradicated from the United States, Mexico, and Central America through an extensive release program by the USDA of sterilized males. The USDA maintains a sterile screwworm fly production plant and release program in the eastern half of the Republic of Panama to keep fertile screwworms from migrating north. Currently, this species is limited to lowland tropical countries in South America and some Caribbean islands.[ citation needed ]
The Old World primary screwworm ( Chrysomya bezziana ) is an obligate parasite of mammals. This fly is distributed throughout the Old World, including Southeast Asia, tropical and subtropical Africa, some countries in the Middle East, India, the Malay Peninsula, the Indonesian and Philippine Islands, and Papua New Guinea. [58]
The secondary screwworm ( Cochliomyia macellaria ) has become one of the principal species on which to base post mortem interval estimations because its succession and occurrence on decomposing remains has been well defined. The secondary screwworm is found throughout the United States and the American tropics, and in southern Canada during summers. This species is one of the most common species found on decomposing remains in the US South. [59]
Maggot debridement therapy (MDT) is the medical use of selected, laboratory-raised fly larvae for cleaning nonhealing wounds. Medicinal maggots perform debridement by selectively eating only dead tissue. Lucilia sericata (Phaenicia sericata), or the common green bottlefly, is the preferred species used in maggot therapy. [60] MDT can be used to treat pressure ulcers, diabetic foot wounds, venous stasis ulcers, and postsurgical wounds. [61]
Adults may be vectors of pathogens of diseases such as dysentery. Flies, most commonly Calliphoridae, have frequently been associated with disease transmission in humans and animals, as well as myiasis. Studies and research have linked Calliphora and Lucilia to vectors of causal agents of bacterial infections. These larvae, commonly seen on decaying bodies, feed on carrion while the adults can be necrophagous or vegetative. During the process of decay, microorganisms (e.g. Mycobacterium ) may be released through the body. Flies arrive at the scene and lay their eggs. The larvae begin eating and breaking down the corpse, simultaneously ingesting these organisms which is the first step of one transmission route.[ citation needed ]
The bacterium which causes paratuberculosis in cattle, pigs and birds (M. a. avium) has been isolated and recovered from these flies through several different experiments.[ citation needed ]
Other potential and threatening diseases include rabbit haemorrhagic disease [ citation needed ] in New Zealand and flystrike. Although strike is not limited to blow flies, these maggots are a major source of this skin invasion, causing lesions, which, if severe enough, may be lethal. Strike starts when blow flies lay eggs in a wound or fecal material present on the sheep. When the maggots hatch, they begin feeding on the sheep and thus irritating it. As soon as the first wave of maggots hatch, they attract more blow flies, causing the strike. Insecticides are available for blow fly prevention (typically containing cypermethrin [62] ), and precautionary measures may be taken, such as docking tails, shearing, and keeping the sheep healthy overall. [63] [64]
Salmonellosis has also been proven to be transmitted by the blow fly through saliva, feces and direct contact by the flies' tarsi. Adult flies may be able to spread pathogens via their sponging mouthparts, vomit, intestinal tract, sticky pads of their feet, or even their body or leg hairs. [65]
As the flies are vectors of many diseases, the importance of identifying the transmissible agents, the route of transmission, and prevention and treatments in the event of contact are becoming increasingly important. With the ability to lay hundreds of eggs in a lifetime and the presence of thousands of larvae at a time in such close proximity, the potential for transmission is high, especially at ideal temperatures.[ citation needed ]
Calliphoridae are, alongside managed and wild bees, likely to be the main crop pollinating insect. They visit (and thus may pollinate) flowers of a wide range of plants, including crop plants (e.g. avocado, mango, onion, leek, carrot, cauliflower). Their sponging mouthparts mean that when visiting flowers, their head and upper body must broadly contact the inside of the flower. They have numerous hairs, including on the head and thorax, which may help them carry pollen, and indeed calliphorids in the wild have been observed carrying large amounts of pollen. Compared to honey bees, blow flies are active under a broader range of environmental conditions. However, it is unknown how their pollination abilities compare to those of bees, there are few studies assessing their contribution to pollination, and the exact species that pollinate are often not identified. [66]
Blow flies are usually the first insects to come in contact with carrion because they have the ability to smell dead animal matter from up to 1 mi (1.6 km) away. [67] Upon reaching the carrion, females deposit eggs on it. Since development is highly predictable if the ambient temperature is known, blow flies are considered a valuable tool in forensic science. Blow flies are used forensically to estimate the minimum post mortem interval (PMImin) for human corpses. [68] Traditional estimations of time since death are generally unreliable after 72 hours and often entomologists are the only officials capable of generating an accurate approximate time interval. The specialized discipline related to this practice is known as forensic entomology. [69]
In addition to being used to estimate the PMImin, assuming colonization occurred after death, blow fly specimens found infesting a human corpse are used to determine if the corpse was relocated or if the individual ingested narcotics prior to death.[ citation needed ]
Calliphora vicina and Cynomya mortuorum are important flies of forensic entomology. Other forensically important Calliphoridae are Phormia regina , Calliphora vomitoria , Calliphora livida , Lucilia cuprina , Lucilia sericata , Lucilia illustris , Chrysomya rufifacies , Chrysomya megacephala , Cochliomyia macellaria , and Protophormia terraenovae . One myth states that species from the genus Lucilia can sense death and show up right before it even occurs. [9]
Myiasis, also known as flystrike or fly strike, is the parasitic infestation of the body of a live animal by fly larvae (maggots) that grow inside the host while feeding on its tissue. Although flies are most commonly attracted to open wounds and urine- or feces-soaked fur, some species can create an infestation even on unbroken skin and have been known to use moist soil and non-myiatic flies as vector agents for their parasitic larvae.
The common green bottle fly is a blowfly found in most areas of the world and is the most well-known of the numerous green bottle fly species. Its body is 10–14 mm (0.39–0.55 in) in length – slightly larger than a house fly – and has brilliant, metallic, blue-green or golden coloration with black markings. It has short, sparse, black bristles (setae) and three cross-grooves on the thorax. The wings are clear with light brown veins, and the legs and antennae are black. The larvae of the fly may be used for maggot therapy, are commonly used in forensic entomology, and can be the cause of myiasis in livestock and pets. The common green bottle fly emerges in the spring for mating.
Calliphora is a genus of blow flies, also known as bottle flies, found in most parts of the world, with the highest diversity in Australia. The most widespread species in North America area Calliphora livida, C. vicina, and C. vomitoria.
Chrysomya putoria, also known as the tropical African latrine blowfly, is a fly species belonging to the blowfly family, Calliphoridae.C. putoria is native to Africa and has recently spread to the Americas. These flies pose significant health risks, especially due to their close association with human settlements. Adult flies can carry pathogens, while larvae may cause myiasis by growing and feeding on the flesh of domestic animals and humans. Other myiasis-causing flies in the same genus are C. bezziana and C. megacephala. C. putoria and other flies that feed on decomposing tissue are used as important tools in forensic entomology to establish the post-mortem interval, or the time elapsed since death.
Rhinophorinae is a subfamily of flies (Diptera), commonly known as Woodlouse Flies, found in all zoogeographic regions except Oceania, but mainly in the Palaearctic and Afrotropical regions.
Calliphora vomitoria, known as the blue bottle fly, orange-bearded blue bottle, or bottlebee, is a species of blow fly, a species in the family Calliphoridae. Calliphora vomitoria is the type species of the genus Calliphora. It is common throughout many continents including Europe, Americas, and Africa. They are fairly large flies, nearly twice the size of the housefly, with a metallic blue abdomen and long orange setae on the gena.
Chrysomya is an Old World blow fly genus of the family Calliphoridae. The genus Chrysomya contains a number of species including Chrysomya rufifacies and Chrysomya megacephala. The term “Old World blow fly” is a derivative of both the associated family, Calliphoridae, and the belief that the genus Chrysomya originated in Asia and migrated to North America only relatively recently. Chrysomya’s primary importance to the field of medico-criminal forensic entomology is due to the genus’ reliable life cycle, allowing investigators to accurately develop a postmortem interval. Chrysomya adults are typically metallic colored with thick setae on the meron and plumose arista. The name comes from the word chrysos, meaning “golden” in reference to the metallic sheen of the genus’ species, and -mya, a derivation from the word myia, meaning “fly”.
Cochliomyia is a genus in the family Calliphoridae, known as blowflies, in the order Diptera. Cochliomyia is commonly referred to as the New World screwworm flies, as distinct from Old World screwworm flies. Four species are in this genus: C. macellaria, C. hominivorax, C. aldrichi, and C. minima. C. hominivorax is known as the primary screwworm because its larvae produce myiasis and feed on living tissue. This feeding causes deep, pocket-like lesions in the skin, which can be very damaging to the animal host. C. macellaria is known as the secondary screwworm because its larvae produce myiasis, but feed only on necrotic tissue. Both C. hominivorax and C. macellaria thrive in warm, tropical areas.
Chrysomya rufifacies is a species belonging to the blow fly family, Calliphoridae, and is most significant in the field of forensic entomology due to its use in establishing or altering post mortem intervals. The common name for the species is the hairy maggot blow fly, and it belongs to the genus Chrysomya, which is commonly referred to as the Old World screwworms. This genus includes other species such as Chrysomya putoria and Chrysomya bezziana, which are agents of myiasis. C. rufifacies prefers very warm weather and has a relatively short lifecycle. It is widely distributed geographically and prefers to colonize large carcasses over small ones. The species commonly has a greenish metallic appearance and is important medically, economically, and forensically.
Calliphora vicina is a member of the family Calliphoridae, which includes blow flies and bottle flies. These flies are important in the field of forensic entomology, being used to estimate the time of a person's death when a corpse is found and then examined. C. vicina is currently one of the most entomologically important fly species for this purpose because it arrives at and colonizes a body following death in consistent timeframes.
The Chrysomyinae are a subfamily of Calliphoridae, or blow flies. According to Whitworth, the distinguishing characteristic of this subfamily is a setose stem vein.
Chrysomya albiceps is a species belonging to the blow fly family, Calliphoridae.
Chrysomya bezziana, also known as the Old World screwworm fly or screwworm, is an obligate parasite of mammals. Obligate parasitic flies require a host to complete their development. Named to honor the Italian entomologist Mario Bezzi, this fly is widely distributed in Asia, tropical Africa, India, and Papua New Guinea. The adult can be identified as metallic green or blue with a yellow face and the larvae are smooth, lacking any obvious body processes except on the last segment.
Lucilia thatuna belongs to the family Calliphoridae, the species most commonly referred to as the blowflies, and the genus Lucilia. Along with several other species of Lucilia, L. thatuna is commonly referred to as a green bottle fly. L. thatuna is very scarce and not much is known about this particular fly. It has been noted to reside in mountainous regions of the northwestern United States.
Cynomya cadaverina, also known as the shiny blue bottle fly, is a member of the family Calliphoridae, which includes blow flies as well as bottle flies. In recent years, this family has become a forensically important facet in many medicocriminal investigations in the growing field of forensic entomology. C. cadaverina is specifically important in determining a post-mortem interval, as well as other important factors.
Calliphora livida is a member of the family Calliphoridae, the blow flies. This large family includes the genus Calliphora, the "blue bottle flies". This genus is important in the field of forensic entomology because of its value in post-mortem interval estimation.
Lucilia coeruleiviridis, formerly Phaenecia coeruleiviridis, is commonly known as a green bottle fly, because of its metallic blue-green thorax and abdomen. L. coeruleiviridis was first discovered by French entomologist Pierre-Justin-Marie Macquart in 1855. It belongs to the family Calliphoridae and is one of many forensically important Diptera, as it is often found on decaying substances. L. coeruleiviridis is one of the most ubiquitous blow fly species in the southeastern United States, particularly in the spring and fall months.
Ernestiini is a tribe of flies in the family Tachinidae.
Polleniidae is a family of flies in the order Diptera. There are at least 6 genera and more than 190 described species placed definitively in Polleniidae, and other genera whose placement here is considered uncertain. The largest genus is Pollenia, with close to 190 species of flies commonly called "cluster flies".
Rhiniidae is a family of flies in the order Diptera, and formerly included in the Calliphoridae. There are around 30 genera and 370 described species in Rhiniidae.
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