Comparing Growth of Pork- and Venison-RearedPhormia regina(Diptera: Calliphoridae) for the Application of Forensic Entomology to Wildlife Poaching

Abstract

Laboratory rearing of Phormia regina Meigen larvae on pork and venison was conducted as part of a study to determine whether forensic entomology approaches can be used in wildlife poaching investigations. Larvae were reared at 30 degrees C, 75% relative humidity, and a photoperiod of 14:10 (L:D) h on pork or venison diets, and samples were collected every 8 h until >90% of the maggots reached the third-instar wandering or prepupal stage. Significant differences were found in the distribution of lengths of the third instar and combined instars for maggots reared on the two different meat sources. Maggots reared on venison reached the prepupal wandering stage significantly faster (approximately 6 h) compared with maggots on the pork diet. Mean adult weight and wing length of venison-reared flies were significantly greater than for flies reared on pork. The lower crude fat content of venison appears to make this meat source a more suitable medium than pork for larvae of P. regina. The difference in growth rate could introduce error into PMImin estimations from third-instar maggots in deer poaching cases if estimates are based on data from studies in which maggots were reared on pork.

Post-Colonization Interval Estimates Using Multi-Species Calliphoridae Larval Masses and Spatially Distinct Temperature Data Sets: A Case Study

“…Several other data sets are available, but were not utilized here due to a lack of larval length data [47,48,49]. Other studies utilized temperatures not consistent with those measured in this study [19,49,50,51,52,53]. For instance, data sets with hourly ranges for larvae reared at 25 °C were used for both species, since the overall average temperature recorded at the carcasses throughout decomposition in this study was 25.7 °C (± 7.01 SD) (Figure 3).…”

Food quality effects on instar‐specific life histories of a holometabolous insect

“…Outside of the field of forensic entomology, little is known of food quality effects on instar-specific life histories. Among these studies, different types of carrion and tissue types have been shown to impact instar-specific growth and development (Boatright & Tomberlin, 2010;Wilson, Lafon, Kreitlow, Brewster, & Fell, 2014), Among these studies, different types of carrion and tissue types have been shown to impact instar-specific growth and development (Boatright & Tomberlin, 2010;Wilson, Lafon, Kreitlow, Brewster, & Fell, 2014),…”

“…For example, in forensic entomology, the instar-specific growth rates of blowfly larvae (Diptera: Calliphoridae) are used to predict postmortem intervals in medico-legal investigations (Catts & Goff, 1992;Greenberg, 1991). Among these studies, different types of carrion and tissue types have been shown to impact instar-specific growth and development (Boatright & Tomberlin, 2010;Wilson, Lafon, Kreitlow, Brewster, & Fell, 2014), suggesting that food quality may impact instar growth and development differently. As a result, we know little about how food quality impacts individual variation in size, development, and survival within and among juvenile instars, where such variation can impact community interactions and food web structure (Moya-Larano, 2011;Start, 2018).…”

Parasite-host interactions between Protocalliphora Spp. (Diptera: Calliphoridae) and tree swallows Tachycineta bicolor

“…The length of a pupa was recorded as the longest distance from the anterior to posterior of the puparium. Length of adults was based on the distance from the meeting point of the humeral cross vein and the subcostal vein to the distal end of the radial 4+5 vein (Figure 3.1), as these are commonly used as a measure of body size in calliphorids (Stoffolano et al 2000;Wilson et al 2014). Measurements of the weight and size of Protocalliphora were collected from the Dykes site in 2013 and 2014, and from the Stewards and Western sites in 2014.…”

“…The length of a pupa was recorded as the longest distance from the anterior to posterior, the wing length of adults was based on the distance from the meeting point of the humeral cross vein and the subcostal vein to the radial 4+5 vein (see Figure 3.1), as these structures are accurately seen and have been used as a measure of body size of calliphorids (Stoffolano et al 2000;Wilson et al 2014).…”