Department of Entomology, Texas A&M University, College Station, TX.
Entomology Department, Faculty of Science, Benha University, Benha, Qualiobya, Egypt.
J Med Entomol. 2020 May 4;57(3):697-704. doi: 10.1093/jme/tjz230.
Flesh flies are major primary consumers of carrion and are commonly found on human remains. Due to this latter feeding habit, their development rates can be used to provide temporal information in forensic investigations. This is usually done by referencing published flesh fly development datasets. Flesh flies are typically assumed to be strictly viviparous and datasets reporting their development rates therefore start at the first larval instar. However, an increasing number of studies has identified oviposition by flesh flies, including the forensically relevant species Blaesoxipha plinthopyga Wiedemann. To assess the impact of egg-laying behavior on casework, oviparity rates and time before larval hatching were assessed under controlled laboratory conditions that reflect common casework conditions in Harris County, Texas. We demonstrated systematic deposition of viable eggs but at a very variable rate between samples. Similarly, the duration between oviposition and larval hatching was highly variable, with some eggs taking more than a day to hatch after deposition. These results highlight the need to account for embryonic development in forensic investigations including B. plinthopyga and advocates for the re-evaluation of the assumed strict viviparity of the Sarcophagidae.
肉蝇是主要的一级腐肉消费者，常见于人类遗骸上。由于这种后一种摄食习性，它们的发育率可以用来为法医学调查提供时间信息。这通常是通过参考已发表的肉蝇发育数据集来完成的。肉蝇通常被认为是严格的胎生的，因此报告其发育率的数据集从第一龄幼虫开始。然而，越来越多的研究已经确定了肉蝇的产卵行为，包括法医学上相关的物种 Blaesoxipha plinthopyga Wiedemann。为了评估产卵行为对案件工作的影响，在反映德克萨斯州哈里斯县常见案件工作条件的受控实验室条件下，评估了卵生率和幼虫孵化前的时间。我们证明了可育卵的系统沉积，但在样本之间的比率非常可变。同样，产卵和幼虫孵化之间的时间间隔也高度可变，一些卵在沉积后需要一天多的时间才能孵化。这些结果强调了在包括 B. plinthopyga 在内的法医调查中需要考虑胚胎发育，并提倡重新评估食虫虻科的严格胎生假设。
