Martínez-Sánchez A, Ivorra T, Velásquez Y, Cerdá-Ortega L, Ibáñez C, Rojo S
University of Alicante, Department of Environmental Sciences and Natural Resources, PO Box 99, Alicante, E-03080, Spain.
Department Environmental Sciences and Natural Resources, Faculty of Sciences III, University of Alicante, Carretera San Vicente del Raspeig s/n, San Vicente del Raspeig, Alicante, 03690, Spain.
Int J Legal Med. 2025 May;139(3):1423-1436. doi: 10.1007/s00414-025-03425-1. Epub 2025 Jan 23.
The range of the oriental latrine fly (Chrysomya megacephala) is currently expanding. It coexists with another blowfly with a similar ecology, the green bottle fly (Lucilia sericata), one of the most abundant species in carrion during warm months. It is essential to understand the influence of temperature, larval substrate type, and larval competition on the development rates of these necrophagous calliphorids to evaluate the role and the adaptation of C. megacephala in the ecosystems, and on the necrophagous Diptera community. Moreover, due to the forensic importance of both species, biological data are need for forensic purposes in south-west Europe. This study represents the first on the biology of C. megacephala in Europe, and of L. sericata in Spain. We performed a field experiment in Alicante province (south-east Spain) to analyse the monthly abundance of both species in natural conditions, and three lab rearing experiments involving both species to evaluate (i) development at constant temperatures, (ii) the growth of larvae and pupae on different substrates, and (iii) coexistence in pure and mixed cultures under controlled abiotic conditions. The results allowed us to analyse the biological differences between both species, and their effects on the forensic entomology application.
东方厕蝇（大头金蝇Chrysomya megacephala）的分布范围目前正在扩大。它与另一种生态习性相似的丽蝇——绿蝇（丝光绿蝇Lucilia sericata）共存，绿蝇是温暖月份腐肉中数量最多的物种之一。了解温度、幼虫底物类型和幼虫竞争对这些食尸性丽蝇发育速率的影响，对于评估大头金蝇在生态系统中的作用和适应性以及对食尸性双翅目群落的影响至关重要。此外，由于这两个物种在法医学上都很重要，因此欧洲西南部的法医学需要生物学数据。本研究是欧洲首次对大头金蝇生物学以及西班牙首次对丝光绿蝇生物学进行的研究。我们在阿利坎特省（西班牙东南部）进行了一项野外实验，以分析自然条件下这两个物种的月度丰度，并进行了三项涉及这两个物种的实验室饲养实验，以评估（i）恒温下的发育情况，（ii）幼虫和蛹在不同底物上的生长情况，以及（iii）在受控非生物条件下纯培养和混合培养中的共存情况。研究结果使我们能够分析这两个物种之间的生物学差异及其对法医昆虫学应用的影响。
