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

Abstract

Abstract-The blow fly is considered to be a medically-important insect worldwide. This review is a compilation of the currently known occurrence of blow fly species in Thailand, the fly's medical importance and its morphological identification in all stages. So far, the 93 blow fly species identified belong to 9 subfamilies, including Subfamily Ameniinae, Calliphoridae, Luciliinae, Phumosiinae, Polleniinae, Bengaliinae, Auchmeromyiinae, Chrysomyinae and Rhiniinae. There are nine species including Chrysomya megacephala, Chrysomya chani, Chrysomya pinguis, Chrysomya bezziana, Achoetandrus rufifacies, Achoetandrus villeneuvi, Ceylonomyia nigripes, Hemipyrellia ligurriens and Lucilia cuprina, which have been documented already as medically important species in Thailand. According to all cited reports, C. megacephala is the most abundant species. Documents related to morphological identification of all stages of important blow fly species and their medical importance also are summarized, based upon reports from only Thailand.

Study on the pupal morphogenesis of Chrysomya rufifacies (Macquart) (Diptera: Calliphoridae) for postmortem interval estimation

“…There are more than 1450 blow flies species distributing all over the world [3]. Among which the major species include Calliphora, Lucilia, and Protophormia genera [4].…”

“…Studies on necrophagous insects have been carried out in many countries of the world [5][6][7][8], including China [9][10][11]. Among these necrophagous species, Chrysomya rufifacies (Macquart) is one of the most common species of blow flies involved in homicide cases in Southern China [12][13][14], and even in other countries beyond China in East Asia [15,16] and Southeast Asia [3,17].…”

Spatial Distribution of Forensically Significant Blow Flies in Subfamily Luciliinae (Diptera: Calliphoridae), Chiang Mai Province, Northern Thailand: Observations and Modeling Using GIS

“…Examples of cases where remains were infested with Luciliinae flies included L. papuensis in Australia [11], H. ligurriens in Malaysia [12], China [8], and Australia [11], Hemipyrellia tagaliana (Bigot) in Malaysia [13], and Hypopygiopsis violacea Macquart in Malaysia [14]. In Thailand, 10 species of Luciliinae flies have been recorded, including the genera Lucilia , Hemipyrellia , and Hypopygiopsis [15]. Among these, H. ligurriens , Lucilia cuprina (Wiedemann), and L. porphyrina , were found in association with human corpses [4,16].…”

Morphological Characteristics of Terminalia of the Wasp-Mimicking Fly, Stomorhina discolor (Fabricius)

“…Biological information for this species is limited. In Thailand, research in Phitsanulok Province of the lower northern region of the country revealed that this species was the most commonly collected blow fly species of the subfamily Rhiniinae, and it can be found in several types of areas including agricultural, mountainous, and forested areas [6]. Senior-White et al [4] noted that larvae of this species were found in nests of the ant Camponotus angusticollis (Jerdon), among the roots of Hevea brasiliensis Muell.…”