Cytotaxonomy of Bombyliidae (Diptera)

Abstract

The karyotypes of 34 species of Bombyliidae are described, some in greater detail than others. It is suggested that two subfamilies, the Bombyliinae (for Homoeophthalmae) and Anthracinae (for Tomophthalmae) be recognized. In the Bombyliinae, one species has 2n = 8, one 2n = 10, three 2n = 12 and one 2n = 14. In the Anthracinae, two species have 2n = 10, four 2n = 12, six 2n = 14, three 2n = 16 and thirteen 2n = 18. Seventeen complements of Bombyliinae averaged 41.4 μ in total complement length (TCL) and thirtyeight of Anthracinae averaged 46.6 μ; so the 55 complements of the Bombyliidae averaged 44.9 μ in TCL, the complements with lower chromosome numbers averaging less than those with higher numbers. Thus Bombyliinae species have lower chromosome numbers and shorter complements than Anthracinae species which tend to have longer metacentric sex chromosomes. Thus both morphologically and karyotypically the Bombyliinae appear to be more advanced whereas the Anthracinae are a more primitive but highly variable group of species.

Genetic Approaches for Studying Myiasis-causing Flies: Molecular Markers and Mitochondrial Genomics

“…Azeredo-Espin and Pavan (1983) described the karyotypes of strains of three species of Chrysomya (C. megacephala, C. albiceps and C. chloropyga ( = C. putoria)) that were introduced into Brazil. The results indicated that C. chloropyga and C. albiceps probably came from West Africa since the karyotypes of the Brazilian strains were similar to those described by Ullerich (1976) and Boyes and Shewell (1975), whereas C. megacephala came from Japan (Boyes and Shewell, 1975).…”

“…Although considerable morphological variation has been found in the karyotypes of the species in this family, the chromosome number is very stable at 2n = 12, with all species having five pairs of rather large, metacentric chromosomes and one pair of smaller, heteromorphic sex chromosomes (XX female and XY male; Stevens, 1908;Metz, 1916Metz, , 1922Keneuke, 1924;Boyes and Wilkes, 1953;Boyes and Van Brink, 1965;Boyes Shewell, 1975). Azeredo-Espin and Pavan (1983) described the karyotypes of strains of three species of Chrysomya (C. megacephala, C. albiceps and C. chloropyga ( = C. putoria)) that were introduced into Brazil.…”

“…The karyotypes of C. chloropyga, C. megacephala and C. albiceps were described by Ullerich (1958Ullerich ( , 1963Ullerich ( , 1976, Boyes and van Brink (1965), Boyes (1967) and Boyes and Shewell (1975). Although considerable morphological variation has been found in the karyotypes of the species in this family, the chromosome number is very stable at 2n = 12, with all species having five pairs of rather large, metacentric chromosomes and one pair of smaller, heteromorphic sex chromosomes (XX female and XY male; Stevens, 1908;Metz, 1916Metz, , 1922Keneuke, 1924;Boyes and Wilkes, 1953;Boyes and Van Brink, 1965;Boyes Shewell, 1975).…”

“…These markers have expanded from traditional tools involving the cytological examination of mitotic and polytene chromosomes, genetic compatibility and isozyme analysis (Boyes, 1961;Boyes & VanBrink, 1965;Boyes and Shewell, 1975;Azeredo-Espin, 1982;Azeredo-Espin & Pavan, 1983;Bush & R.W. Neek., 1976 ;Whitten, 1980Whitten, , 1985Whitten, , 1986; LaChance & Whitten, 1986;LaChance et al, 1982) to include a vast array of molecular markers.…”

Molecular phylogeny of the blowfly genus Chrysomya

“…Chrysomya bezziana Villeneuve larvae feed on healthy warm-blooded vertebrates, and are serious medical and veterinary pests (Zumpt, 1951(Zumpt, , 1965. With about 36 species (Boyes & Shewell, 1975;Wells & Kurahashi, 1996;Ullerich & Schottke, 2006), the genus is not unusually large for the Calliphoridae. However, compared with other blowfly genera, the Chrysomya are notably diverse in morphology and habits, and some of their unique features may have contributed to the ability of several species to spectacularly succeed in invading new geographic regions.…”