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1. Third instars of the invasive blow fly Chrysomya rufifacies are facultative predators on larvae of the native blow fly Cochliomyia macellaria.2. The effects of priority arrival time on the survivorship and fitness of C. rufifacies and C. macellaria were investigated in laboratory experiments.3. Cochliomyia macellaria colonising a resource within 1-2 days after C. rufifacies resulted in a 20-70% reduction in survivorship, pupal weight and fecundity compared with those colonising a resource more than 2 days before or after C. rufifacies. Inversely, C. rufifacies exhibited a 50% increase in survivorship and fecundity when closely (∼2 days) associated temporally on the resource with C. macellaria and was negatively affected by disparate arrival.4. These results demonstrate that arrival sequence significantly affects the fitness of both C. rufifacies and C. macellaria. Early colonisation may allow C. macellaria to persist in a community, while there are fitness benefits for C. rufifacies colonising after C. macellaria.5. The 60% reduction in C. macellaria survivorship when in close temporal association with C. rufifacies may act as an agent of selection for C. macellaria to colonise a resource early and develop quickly to avoid predation on resources colonised by C. rufifacies.6. Selection for such traits may explain how C. macellaria is able to persist despite intraguild predation by this invasive species. In contrast, the 50% increase in survivorship and fecundity exhibited by C. rufifacies when arriving after C. macellaria may select for C. rufifacies to delay colonisation.

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Maggot debridement therapy (MDT) is the use of the larval stage of flies (i.e., Calliphoridae) to remove necrotic tissue and disinfect wounds. Effective MDT requires aseptic technique to prevent the unintentional introduction of pathogenic bacteria into a wound to be debrided; yet the external surface of Calliphoridae eggs is often heavily contaminated with bacteria. Studies of external disinfection of dipteran eggs have been reported, but neither their efficacy nor effect on egg viability has been adequately assessed. The present study evaluated the efficacy of ten disinfection techniques involving immersion, rinse, or a combination of both in formalin, Lysol, formaldehyde, bleach, ethanol, Sporgon, or benzalkonium chloride. All techniques resulted in significant decreases in culturable, aerobic bacterial load on Lucilia cuprina eggs. For L. cuprina, a 10 minute 3% Lysol immersion was the most efficacious, disinfecting 96.67% of egg samples, while resulting in 31.84% egg mortality. The 5% formalin immersion was least efficacious, disinfecting only 3.33% of L. cuprina egg samples, while resulting in 33.51% egg mortality. A formaldehyde immersion, one of the most commonly used disinfection techniques, was moderately effective, disinfecting 66.7% of egg samples, while resulting in 40.16% egg mortality. For Chrysomya rufifacies and Cochliomyia macellaria egg samples, the 10 minute 3% Lysol immersion disinfected 100% of the samples, and for Lucilia sericata, 80% of egg samples, while resulting in 33.97%, 7.34%, and 36.96% egg mortality, respectively. H2 CO disinfected 16.67% of Ch. rufifacies, 26.67% of C. macellaria, and 56.67% of L. sericata egg samples, while resulting in 21.98%, 10.18%, and 32.19% egg mortality, respectively. Due to its high disinfection efficacy and relatively low egg mortality, a 10 minutes 3% Lysol immersion is recommended for sterilizing Calliphoridae eggs prior to rearing of larvae for use in MDT.

Forensic entomology can be useful to the veterinary professional in cases of animal cruelty. A main application of forensic entomology is to determine the minimum postmortem interval by estimating the time of insect colonization, based on knowledge of the rate of development of pioneer colonizers and on insect species succession during decomposition of animal remains. Since insect development is temperature dependent, these estimates require documentation of the environmental conditions, including ambient temperature. It can also aid in the detection and recognition of wounds, as well as estimate the timing of periods of neglect. Knowledge of the geographic distribution of insects that colonize animal remains may suggest that there has been movement or concealment of the carcass or can create associations between a suspect, a victim, and a crime scene. In some instances, it can aid in the detection of drugs or toxins within decomposed or skeletonized remains. During animal cruelty investigations, it may become the responsibility of the veterinary professional to document and collect entomological evidence from live animals or during the necropsy. The applications of forensic entomology are discussed. A protocol is described for documenting and collecting entomological evidence at the scene and during the necropsy, with additional emphasis on recording geographic location, meteorological data, and collection and preservation of insect specimens.Keywords forensic entomology, postmortem interval estimation, forensic pathology, insects, insect succession Forensic entomology, or the application of arthropod science to legal matters, has steadily increased its prominence within the forensic sciences. 5,28,41,46,77 While this definition allows for a broad interpretation of the scope of this science, forensic entomology is most commonly associated with use in death investigations.Although entomology has been used at crime scenes for centuries, research in recent decades has resulted in a significant advance of forensic entomological knowledge. 8,26,150 As a result, it is now commonly known that insect and arthropod evidence can assist in estimation of the postmortem interval (PMI) by the time of insect colonization on remains. 4,9,40,41,46,53 It can also aid in the detection and recognition of wounds, serve as indicators of perimortem and postmortem treatment of remains, and demonstrate neglect in both humans and animals 7,26,27 (Fig. 1). Arthropods may also be used to create associations between a suspect, a victim, and a crime scene. In some instances, it can aid in the detection of drugs or toxins within decomposed or skeletonized remains. 43,73 Recent research has even focused on the analysis of insect gut contents to determine the species on which fly larvae had fed. 43,87 These uses have made forensic entomology an invaluable tool for the death investigator.While the bulk of forensic entomological applications has been in human death investigations, recent years have seen an increase in forensic entomology...

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