Cerrado Calliphorids (Diptera, Insecta) Phenology’s in a Changing World

Abstract

Calliphoridae is one of the most abundant families of flies of the order Diptera. Its importance is linked to different areas of knowledge, such as sanitary medicine, veterinary medicine, forensic entomology and ecology. Because of this, it is important to determine the factors that influence its distribution and phenology, allowing mitigation measures to be established. Furthermore, the information must be evaluated in the context of climate change, which can cause variations in population age and changes in distribution area. The present work aims to study the seasonal fluctuations and environmental factors that determine the species distribution found in a protected area in the state of Maranhão in northeastern Brazil. The distribution of Lucilia eximia (Wiedemann, 1819), Chrysomya albiceps (Wiedmann, 1819), Chrysomya megacephala(Fabricius, 1794), Hemilucilia benoisti (Séguy, 1925) and Hemiluciliasp. was related to vegetation coverage and limited by two main factors, humidity (60% lower limit) and temperature (30°C lower limit). Regarding seasonality, the species presented different phenologies, generally linked to the rainy season, with similar patterns between the genera and a population increase in periods of rain with intermediate intensity. This study contributes with new information about the interaction between environmental factors and phenology of five carrion fly species, providing insights into the interaction between environmental changes induced by climate change.