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Species
Calliphora vicina Robineau-Desvoidy, 1830
IUCN
NCBI
EOL Text
The following is a representative barcode sequence, the centroid of all available sequences for this species.
There are 26 barcode sequences available from BOLD and GenBank.
Below is a sequence of the barcode region Cytochrome oxidase subunit 1 (COI or COX1) from a member of the species.
See the BOLD taxonomy browser for more complete information about this specimen and other sequences.
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Barcode of Life Data Systems (BOLDS) Stats
Public Records: 50
Specimens with Barcodes: 57
Species With Barcodes: 1
United States
Rounded National Status Rank: NNR - Unranked
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The taxonomic limits of the genus Calliphora are not well defined, with some authors, notably in North America, splitting the group into a number of smaller genera.
Morphology
The genus Calliphora contains the familiar bluebottle flies, which are easily recognised by their:
- large size
- dark blue, almost black colour
- broad compact body
- metallic abdomen with silvery dusting
Other notable features are:
- The first antennal segment (flagellomere) is noticeably large.
- The back of the head (occiput) has pale hairs. Parts of the head and antennae have a reddish ground colour
- Legs are bristly.
- Males have only a very narrow gap between the eyes, females a broad gap.
Diagnostic description
- Both calypteras brown or at the very least conspicuously pigmented; upper calyptera with dark rim and dark hairs along rim.
- Basicosta yellow or yellowish-brown, never all black.
- Anterior thoracic spiracle orange.
- Frons, upper half of parafacialia, most of face, posterior third of jowls and occiput with dark ground colour.
- Facial ridges, mouth-edge, and anterior two-thirds of jowls with orange ground colour.
- Occiput mostly with pale hairs.
Lookalikes
Calliphora vicina is the most common and widespread bluebottle blowfly in the UK, spatially and seasonally, and is the species most likely to be encountered.Also common is the rural bluebottle Calliphora vomitoria, which can be easily distinguished from C. vicina by the conspicuous covering of orange hairs on the occiput.One leading authority on this group has reported that vicina is often confused with uralensis in entomological collections. However, C. uralensis has a dark basicosta, and the anterior thoracic spiracle is also dark.
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Source | No source database. |
Rounded Global Status Rank: GNR - Not Yet Ranked
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Rights holder/Author | NatureServe |
Source | http://explorer.natureserve.org/servlet/NatureServe?searchName=Calliphora+vicina |
Calliphora vicina is a common species of fly that is well-suited to take advantage of human activities. It generally benefits from the presence of human populations and is sometimes called the urban bluebottle blowfly.The larvae or maggots feed on decaying organic matter, mainly carrion or foodstuffs of animal origin. The readiness of blowflies to colonise corpses makes them incredibly useful in forensic investigations.
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Rights holder/Author | Zoe Adams, Natural History Museum |
Source | No source database. |
Unless there is something to prevent their access, blowflies will rapidly colonise a human corpse. For this reason, they are frequently encountered by police who are investigating suspicious deaths.It is now recognised that an exploration of the insect community on a corpse can contribute valuable information to the forensic investigation and the field of forensic entomology is relatively well established.Due to their ability to locate corpses so quickly after death, blowflies have proved more useful than any other insects in giving an estimate of the minimum post-mortem interval (the time elapsed since death). To do this the forensic entomologist models the growth of the blowfly larvae recovered from the remains in relation to the scene temperatures.To date, the forensic entomology team at the Natural History Museum have been involved in some 120 forensic cases. Calliphora vicina was the primary blowfly species recovered in most of these.
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Rights holder/Author | Zoe Adams, Natural History Museum |
Source | No source database. |
Reproduction
In Britain, carrion blowflies go through several generations per year, and the breeding season is only restricted by temperature. Males attempt to mate repeatedly, but females may only mate once, shortly after emerging as adults.Once mated, females store the sperm they receive in 3 special organs called the spermathecae and they will repulse further mating attempts for as long as the store lasts. Females require a protein meal to mature an egg batch, and must find a suitable food source to deposit eggs on once they are mature.
Lifecycle
Larvae hatch from eggs laid by females. There are 3 larval stages or instars:
- The 1st and 2nd instars are of very short duration.
- Most of the growth takes place during the final, 3rd instar.
Once larval growth is complete, the maggots enter the post-feeding or wandering stage during which they crawl away from the carcass before burrowing into the soil to pupate. During pupation, the cuticle of the larva contracts, hardens and darkens to form the puparium, which is the outer protective covering inside which the pupa develops.On emergence the new adult must push its way out of the puparium, and burrow up to the soil surface.
Dispersal
Very little is known about the dispersal mechanisms for Calliphora vicina, although bluebottles are certainly capable of prolonged flight and can cover considerable distances.No data is available on distances covered by Calliphora species, but studies that used carcasses to attract flies recovered marked Lucilia individuals as much as 6.5km away from their release point.
License | http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-sa/3.0/ |
Rights holder/Author | Zoe Adams, Natural History Museum |
Source | No source database. |
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. C. vicina is currently one of the most entomologically important fly species because of its consistent time of arrival and colonization of the body following death.
Contents
Taxonomy[edit]
C. vicina was described by the French entomologist Jean-Baptiste Robineau-Desvoidy in 1830. Its specific epithet is derived from the Latin vicinus 'neighbouring'.[1]
Description[edit]
C. vicina is known as a blue bottle fly because of the metallic blue-gray coloration of its thorax and abdomen. It is distinguished from the commonly known C. vomitoria by its bright orange cheeks. The blue bottle fly is approximately 10–11 mm in length. The sclerites at the base of the coxa are yellow or orange. By chaetotaxy, the study of bristle arrangement, Calliphorids are characterized by having black bristles on the meron and two to three bristles on the notopleuron.
The similarities between the different species of Calliphora can make identification of immature stages nearly impossible. From the first instar to the pupa stage C. vicina is identical to that of C. vomitoria.
Lifecycle[edit]
C. vicina goes through five generations in a year at a threshold temperature of 27˚ C (81˚ F). A female C. vicina can lay up to 300 eggs, on fresh carrion or on open wounds. The larvae go through three instar stages. The first instar hatches in approximately 24 hours after the eggs are laid. It goes through its second instar in 20 hours and its third instar in 48 hours. Under favorable conditions, the larvae feed for about three to four days. When the larvae complete their development, they disperse to find an adequate place to pupate. The C. vicina pupa stage last about 11 days. At 27˚ C, C. vicina’s life cycle lasts approximately 18 days.[2]
Climatic factors, such as temperature, are known to influence egg-laying and development of instar-larvae. In warmer weather the life cycle can last a little less, and in cooler temperatures the life cycle takes a little longer. Knowing the duration between the three instars and pupa stage and post-feeding larval dispersal can be useful to determine the post mortem interval in a criminal case.[3]
Distribution[edit]
C. vicina are found throughout the U.S. in urban areas and are most abundant in early spring and fall where the temperatures are around 55-75˚F (13-24˚C).[4] The species predominates in Europe and the New World, but has found its way into other countries via harbors and airports. It was first recorded in South Africa in 1965 when a specimen was collected near Johannesburg, but specimen collections have been few and sporadic since then.[5]
Post mortem interval estimation[edit]
One of the key characteristics of using blow flies in developing a post mortem interval estimate is the succession of insects that colonize the body. Based on the insects present at the time, a reasonable time frame for death may be established.[6]C. vicina has its own part in the succession of the corpse.
C. vicina plays a major role in corpse colonization during the winter months, with less of a presence during the warmer months when temperature is less of a constraint. This fly has a lower threshold temperature for flight activity than other blow-flies, allowing for greater prevalence during colder periods. This period of activity must be considered when evaluating the presence or absence of this fly.[7]
When using the age of maggots to determine the PMI, the time before arrival is an important factor. The succession of C. vicina involves the arrival of adults two days after death. Therefore, two days must be added to the maximum age determined for flies found on the body.[8]
Behavior[edit]
C. vicina play an integral part in post mortem interval determination. Factors such as region, weather temperatures, time of day and conditions under which the body was found all contribute to determining a post mortem interval (PMI). To complete the calculation the entomologist must consider what is commonly known about C. vicina and integrate it with experimental data gathered from a crime scene. The entomologist must know how the blow-fly behaves specifically in the area where the body was discovered. This involves recording environment temperatures at the crime scene as well as retrieving a history of the climate in the region. C. vicina in particular is adapted to cooler temperatures, appearing most commonly in winter and less often in the summer months.[9] This puts their flight activity threshold at above 55-60 °F (13-16 °C), a lower temperature than most other blow-flies.[6] Knowing the threshold temperature allows the entomologist to calculate accumulated degree days, which in turn helps determine PMI.
Some knowledge regarding C. vicina behavior is well known. Case studies have shown that it is not the first species in arrival. However, it does appear one to two days before Phaenicia sericata.[7] However, determining PMI is an intricate process because there is still much that we do not know about C. vicina behavior. For instance, it is a long held belief that the species is not nocturnally active. Recently, however, it has been shown that C. vicina is indeed active at night under certain experimental conditions.[10]
Future research[edit]
As C. vicina continues to be researched, more information about the behavior will be gained to allow for a more complete picture of the lifecycle, thereby leading to better estimates of time of colonization. New knowledge, such as the activity of C. vicina at night, will provide forensic entomologists with a better tool for their PMI estimation development.[10]
References[edit]
- ^ Simpson DP (1979). Cassell's Latin Dictionary (5 ed.). London: Cassell Ltd. p. 883. ISBN 0-304-52257-0.
- ^ BCSO Identification - Entomology - Blowfly Life Cycle
- ^ Gomes, L; Godoy WAC; Zuben CJV (2006). "A Review of Postfeeding Larval Disposal: implications for forensic entomology". Naturwissenschaften 93 (5): 207–215. doi:10.1007/s00114-006-0082-5. PMID 16538375.
- ^ Case Studies in Forensic Entomology
- ^ Williams KA, Villet MH. A new and earlier record of Chrysomya megacephala in South Africa, with notes on another exotic species, Calliphora vicina (Diptera: Calliphoridae.) African Invertebrates. 2006 Dec;47:347-50.
- ^ a b Catts P, Haskell N, Entomology & Death: A Procedural Guide, Joyce's Print Shop, Inc., 1990.
- ^ a b Arnaldos MI, García MD, Romera E, Presa JJ, Luna A. Estimation of postmortem interval in real cases based on experimentally obtained entomological evidence. Forensic Sci Int. 2005 Apr 20;149(1):57-65.
- ^ Lang MD, Allen GR, Horton BJ. Blowfly succession from possum (Trichosurus vulpecula) carrion in a sheep-farming zone. Med Vet Entomol. 2006 Dec;20(4):445-52.
- ^ Battan Horenstein M, Linhares AX, Rosso B, García MD. Species composition and seasonal succession of saprophagous calliphorids in a rural area of Córdoba: Argentina. Biol Res. 2007;40(2):163-71. Epub 2007 Nov 21
- ^ a b Gennard D, Forensic Entomology: An Introduction, Wiley, John & Sons, Incorporated, 2007.
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Size
- Calliphora vicina flies are generally large, 5-13mm in length.
- Their considerable size range is an adaptation to relying on carrion as a larval food source. The level of competition can be extremely high, and the food source only lasts a short time.
- Within limits, maggots receiving only limited nutrition before the food runs out are able to mature into miniature adults.
Growth
The growth rate of C. vicina has been studied in great depth because of the forensic importance of this species throughout temperate Europe. As poikilotherms, temperature has the biggest effect on their rate of growth. Records in the literature give the time needed to develop from egg to adult emergence as 18-24 days at 27oC, compared with 31-35 days at 15oC.Temperature also affects final adult size, with smaller adults emerging from cultures reared at high temperatures. Temperatures above 30oC appear to be lethal to C. vicina.The quality and quantity of the available food also affect growth. Final adult size has a profound effect on the fly's:
- longevity
- fecundity
Life expectancy
Little is known of the life span of British blowflies in the wild. It is thought that the majority of C. vicina females only survive to lay one batch of eggs, which would give them a life span of 1 to 2 months.
- In the south of the UK a small population of flies will over-winter as adults, surviving for 6 months or more.
- In the north, the population over-winters as post-feeding larvae in a state of arrested development known as diapause. The trigger for this is declining day length and low temperatures, and it is broken in the spring when temperatures increase.
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Rights holder/Author | Zoe Adams, Natural History Museum |
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