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Neotropical Entomology 35(6):753-756 (2006) Dinâmica Populacional Sazonal em Lucilia eximia (Wiedemann) (Diptera: Calliphoridae) RESUMO -Neste estudo variações sazonais da fecundidade, tamanhos de asa e tíbia foram investigadas em populações naturais de Lucilia eximia (Wiedemann), na tentativa de determinar as alterações bionômicas da espécie, associadas à sazonalidade. Exemplares de L. eximia foram coletados mensalmente em Botucatu, SP, durante dois anos e as fêmeas adultas dissecadas para estimar a fecundidade. O tamanho do corpo foi estimado por medições de asa e tíbia. A fecundidade e o tamanho do corpo foram analisados sazonalmente. Uma trajetória temporal relativamente constante foi encontrada para fecundidade e tamanhos de asa e tíbia durante os 24 meses de estudo. Fortes correlações positivas entre tamanhos de asa e tíbia, fecundidade e tamanho de asa e fecundidade e tamanho de tíbia foram observadas. A manutenção dos valores estáveis em L. eximia indica que a espécie sofreu pouca infl uência sazonal durante o período analisado. Esse resultado confi rma o perfi l demográfi co e bionômico estável da espécie a despeito das variações climáticas sazonais observadas na área de estudo.PALAVRAS-CHAVE: Mosca-varejeira, sazonalidade, fecundidade, tamanho corpóreo ABSTRACT -In this study the seasonal variation of fecundity, wing and tibia sizes were investigated in natural populations of Lucilia eximia (Wiedemann) as an attempt to determine the variations in life history of the species associated to seasonality. Specimens of L. eximia were monthly collected in Botucatu, São Paulo, Brazil, during two years and the adult females dissected to estimate fecundity. Body size was estimated by measuring wing and tibia. Fecundity and body size were seasonally analysed. A relatively constant temporal trajectory was found for fecundity, wing and tibia size over twenty-four months. Strong positive correlations between wing and tibia size, fecundity and wing and fecundity and tibia were observed. The maintenance of stable values in L. eximia indicates that it has suffered little seasonal infl uence over the period analysed. This result confi rms the demographics and life history stable profi le of the species in spite of seasonal climatic changes observed in the study area. KEY WORDS: Blowfl y, fecundity, body sizeLucilia Robineau-Desvoidy species are named greenbottles because of their brilliant metallic green coloration, which appears to vary with age (Smith 1986). However, the species of the genus Lucilia are also considered as blowfl y, since they exhibit the same synanthropic and feeding behavior observed in other Calliphoridae species (Stevens & Wall 1996). Adults, especially males, are frequently found on fl owers where they feed on the nectar (Smith 1986). Most species of Lucilia are saprophagous, breed in carrion and dung, usually being the fi rst to appear in carrion in sunlight (Archer & Elgar 2003). In Brazil the most common Lucilia species is Lucilia eximia Wiedemman (Moura et al. 1997). L. eximia is a nearctic...

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In this study, we used data from both experiments and mathematical simulations to analyze the consequences of the interacting effects of intraguild predation (IGP), cannibalism and parasitism occurring in isolation and simultaneously in trophic interactions involving two blowfly species under shared parasitism. We conducted experiments to determine the short‐term response of two blowfly species to these interactions with respect to their persistence. A mathematical model was employed to extend the results obtained from these experiments to the long‐term consequences of these interactions for the persistence of the blowfly species. Our experimental results revealed that IGP attenuated the strength of the effects of cannibalism and parasitism between blowfly host species, increasing the probability of persistence of both populations. The simulations obtained from the mathematical model indicated that IGP is a key interaction for the long‐term dynamics of this system. The presence of different species interacting in a tri‐trophic system relaxed the severity of the effects of a particular interaction between two species, changing species abundances and promoting persistence through time. This pattern was related to indirect interactions with a third species, the parasitoid species included in this study.

Knowledge of the factors influencing the ecology of blow flies, especially the dynamic population equilibrium, is essential in forensic entomology. However, lack of knowledge of the action of psychoactive drugs on the population dynamics of these flies may affect the inferences that experts must make in medico-legal reports. This study evaluated the effects of amphetamine and phenobarbital on the population dynamics of Chrysomya albiceps (Wiedemann), by combining laboratory experimentation and mathematical modelling. Only amphetamine and its control, methanol, influenced the qualitative dynamic behaviour of Chrysomya albiceps, stabilising chaotic populations. The results are discussed in an ecological and forensic context. may, when combined with phenobarbital, enhance its action [18]. Barbiturates ranked in second place among the drugs used in suicide attempts in the state of Goiás, Central-West Brazil, in 2003-2004.Blow flies (Diptera: Calliphoridae) are among the first insects to perceive and colonise vertebrate remains [2,21]. Chrysomya albiceps (Wiedemann) originated in the Old World tropics, and over time spread around the world, reaching Brazil in 1975Brazil in or 1976. The species is of major forensic importance, allowing the estimation of the PMI min [21] and also the detection of ante-mortem use of drugs and toxins [24]. The establishment of Chrysomya species in Brazil affected the dynamic behaviour of native blow flies, causing the decline of populations of Cochliomyia macellaria (Fabricius) and, to a lesser extent, Lucilia eximia (Wiedemann) [25].Calliphorid flies breed in discrete generations, displaying high sensitivity in demographic parameters influenced by larval density, which are usually closely associated with population equilibrium [25]. Mathematical models involving the analysis of fly population growth are powerful analytical tools for describing the long-term effects of ecological and behavioural patterns that are important for population dynamics, which are especially relevant for the demographic interpretation of species of medical-veterinary and forensic importance [25].The theory of population dynamics of single species has been applied extensively over the last 20 years to study both introduced and native blow fly species, in order to better understand aspects of the population biology of each species [25,26]. These studies have revealed important differences in the dynamics of population equilibrium Citation: Gião JZ, Reigada C, Moretti TC, Godoy WAC (2017) Effect of Psychoactive Drugs on Demographic Parameters of the Blow Fly Chrysomya albiceps (Wiedemann) (Diptera: Calliphoridae). J Forensic Res 8: 400.