Tarone Aaron M, Foran David R
Department of Zoology, Michigan State University, Natural Science Building, East Lansing, MI 48824, USA.
J Med Entomol. 2006 Sep;43(5):1023-33. doi: 10.1603/0022-2585(2006)43[1023:codpia]2.0.co;2.
Forensic entomologists rely on laboratory growth data to estimate the time of blow fly colonization on human remains. Several data sets exist for the development of the common blow fly Lucilia sericata (Meigen) (Diptera: Calliphoridae), and although they generally describe similar rates of preadult development, all vary. Such differences could be explained by genetic variation, environmental (rearing) variation, or both. In the study presented here, flies from a single population were reared under variable conditions of food moisture, substrate type, substrate freshness, and sampling, to determine the effect each had on developmental time. Cohorts were tested in a single incubator at a single temperature and humidity, to eliminate effects of undesired environmental variation. Fly developmental times were significantly influenced by multiple laboratory rearing treatments; food moisture, transferring postfeeding larvae to fresh substrate, and destructive sampling affected different stages of development. Developmental times ranged from 329 to 505.5 h, covering the spectrum of variation observed in published data sets. Growth was then compared with larval development on rat carcasses under the same environmental conditions, establishing a link between laboratory-controlled growth and development on carrion. Cohorts raised on rats matured to adulthood between 333 and 337 h, which was best mimicked by the fastest growth treatment observed under laboratory conditions. The large environmental influence on development observed in this study could affect forensic entomology casework and accentuates the need for a standardized means of rearing flies in a laboratory setting that is relevant to decomposition on a corpse.
法医昆虫学家依靠实验室生长数据来估计丽蝇在人类遗体上定殖的时间。关于常见丽蝇丝光绿蝇（Meigen）（双翅目：丽蝇科）的发育已有多个数据集，尽管它们通常描述的幼虫前期发育速率相似，但仍存在差异。这些差异可能由遗传变异、环境（饲养）变异或两者共同导致。在本研究中，将来自单一群体的苍蝇在食物湿度、基质类型、基质新鲜度和采样等可变条件下饲养，以确定每种条件对发育时间的影响。将同组苍蝇在单一温度和湿度的单个培养箱中进行测试，以消除不期望的环境变异的影响。苍蝇的发育时间受到多种实验室饲养处理的显著影响；食物湿度、喂食后将幼虫转移到新鲜基质以及破坏性采样影响了不同的发育阶段。发育时间在329至505.5小时之间，涵盖了已发表数据集中观察到的变异范围。然后将这种生长情况与相同环境条件下大鼠尸体上的幼虫发育进行比较，建立了实验室控制的生长与腐肉上发育之间的联系。在大鼠上饲养的同组苍蝇在333至337小时之间发育为成虫，这与实验室条件下观察到的最快生长处理最为相似。本研究中观察到的环境对发育的巨大影响可能会影响法医昆虫学的实际工作，并突出了在实验室环境中建立与尸体分解相关的标准化饲养苍蝇方法的必要性。
