Morphology of the puparia of the housefly, Musca domestica (Diptera: Muscidae) and blowfly, Chrysomya megacephala (Diptera: Calliphoridae)

Abstract

Examination of the puparia of the housefly, Musca domestica L. and blowfly Chrysomya megacephala (F.), through scanning electron microscopy (SEM), revealed many differences in the profile of their morphology. Special attention was focused on puparial characteristics used to differentiate between the two fly species studied, and between other forensically important flies. Results of this study indicate that the housefly puparia are almost evenly rounded at both ends and the anterior spiracle bears six papillae. A pair of pupal respiratory horns is found laterally before the posterior boundary of the first abdominal segment, bearing numerous papillae that have a longitudinal opening along the oval convex base. The peritreme of each posterior spiracle forms a crude forward or reverse D-shape, encircling three sinuous slits. The blowfly pupariums anterior spiracle contains 8-12 papillae. The pupal respiratory horns protrude slightly and in some specimens a group of approximately 38 globules on the bubble-like membrane may be observed. Each of the posterior spiracles is more or less an oval- shaped peritreme, encircling three straight spiracular slits. The anatomical features presented herein allow for the differentiation of puparia of the two fly species studied and could prove useful in future forensic entomological assessments.

Surface ultrastructure of the puparia of the blow fly, Lucilia cuprina (Diptera: Calliphoridae), and flesh fly, Liosarcophaga dux (Diptera: Sarcophagidae)

“…Although the approximately 30 globules seen in L. cuprina puparia in this study is similar to another blow fly belonging to the same genus, Lucilia illustris (about 30 globules), it differs from the about 23 globules of Lucilia (Phaenicia) sericata or about 50 globules of Lucilia (Phaenicia) coeruleiviridis (Liu and Greenberg 1989). As for the pupal respiratory horn, the respiratory openings of L. cuprina are arranged vertically, whereas this differs from the oblique arrangement observed in the blow fly, Chrysomya megacephala (Siriwattanarungsee et al 2005). Keilin (1944) determined that these respiratory horns of coarctate pupae of Cyclorrhapha are formed by extensions of the spiracular chambers.…”

“…Erzinclioglu (2000) revealed that examination of fly puparia with SEM provides many distinguishing details by which they can be identified and can subsequently be used as entomological evidence in forensic investigations. The use of SEM to discover characteristics used to identify fly puparia is evident within the literature (Kitching 1976;Liu and Greenberg 1989;Siriwattanarungsee et al 2005). Since the larval skin of the late third instar is contracted and formed into the puparium during the formation of the pupa, many larval characteristics are retained in the puparium that fit the same profile used for identifying the third instar.…”

Morphology of puparia of Megaselia scalaris (Diptera: Phoridae), a fly species of medical and forensic importance

“…In flies of the family Muscidae, the length of the respiratory horn and arrangement of papillae are found to be different in some species, as demonstrated in Ophyra by Skidmore (1985). Moreover, the arrangement and number of papillae observed on the respiratory horns markedly differ between puparia of the housefly Musca domestica L. and blowfly Chrysomya megacephala (F.) (Siriwattanarungsee et al 2005).…”

Blow Fly (Diptera: Calliphoridae) in Thailand: Distribution, Morphological Identification and Medical Importance Appraisals

“…Pupa stage: The pupa is mahogany brown to dark brown in color and coarctate and barrel shaped. Morphology of puparium has been studied widely under LM [29] and SEM [30][31][32][33][34][35]. A simply key to identify the puparium of some blow fly species of Thailand was summarized by Sukontason et al [29].…”

“…A simply key to identify the puparium of some blow fly species of Thailand was summarized by Sukontason et al [29]. The main characteristics for identification include body appearance (with or without tubercle), such as the 3 rd thoracic segment to 1 st abdominal segment, distance between right and left posterior spiracles, number of bubble membranes and papillae on the anterior spiracle [29][30][31][32][33][34][35].…”