Effect of different post-feeding intervals on the total time of development of the blowfly Lucilia sericata (Diptera: Calliphoridae)

Family Calliphoridae: An Integral Part of Postmortem Interval Estimation

“…The farther Calliphoridae larvae travel, the longer they will spend in the post-feeding interval. This delay in pupation was found to inaccurately calculate PMI by a delay of about 29 h when the larva spent a total of 48 h in the post-feeding interval [24]. With knowledge of factors that alter the PAI, in addition to PMI min , investigators can begin to piece together the postmortem interval.…”

“…It has been found that L. sericata pupae disperse from bodies at much greater distances indoors than outdoors [6]. Indoor larvae have been found to travel distances of up to 30 m, which can delay the pupal stage [24]. Studies on L. sericata based on length of vein and corpse size show a decrease in size with increase in time spent in the post-feeding interval.…”

Post-feeding activity of Lucilia sericata (Diptera: Calliphoridae) on common domestic indoor surfaces and its effect on development

“…Lucilia sericata (Meigen, 1826) has been widely studied and appears to be one of the most active species in the wandering phase, often moving away from a food source or remaining active for a period of time despite a suitable pupariation medium being available (Greenberg, 1990;Mai & Amendt, 2012). It was noted by Anderson (2000) that wandering behaviour was so strong, larvae climbed the walls of a glass jar and were difficult to restrain within an experimental environment.…”

“…It has been observed that there is an energetic cost to dispersal with a greater distance of travel/time spent dispersing found to be negatively correlated with both the weight of larvae (Gomes & Von Zuben, 2005) and that of adult flies, resulting in an increase to ADH (Arnott & Turner, 2008). However, Mai and Amendt (2012) found that overall development time was only affected once larvae had been dispersing for a period >24h resulting in smaller adults due to increased energy consumption. Additionally, they noted that even when in an unfavourable environment, larvae began to pupariate after an extended period of time despite being unable to locate a suitable site, potentially due to a build-up of paralysins (Chiou, 1998).…”

“…However, the same may not be true in the field where the ground may be hard and unyielding both indoors and outdoors, forcing larvae to travel a greater distance to locate a site for pupariation. Effects of variation in dispersal time/behaviour in differing environmental conditions on development time are not considered within the calculation of ADH (Arnott & Turner, 2008;Mai & Amendt, 2012) and few studies have been conducted into factors effecting the postfeeding phase. The time spent dispersing is often combined with third instar development data in ADH calculations (Arnott & Turner, 2008), however no current guidelines exist for estimating this time in relation to mPMI estimation.…”