Larval muscle attachment site (MAS) patterns are a conserved character among Piophilini flies (Diptera, Piophilidae)

Abstract

The dorsoventral muscle attachment sites (MAS) patterns are described for six species of the tribe Piophilini (Diptera: Piophilidae): Centrophlebomyia furcata (Fabricius), Liopiophila varipes (Meigen), Piophila casei (Linnaeus), Piophila megastigmata McAlpine, Prochyliza nigrimana (Meigen) and Stearibia nigriceps (Meigen). Comparison between the MAS patterns of Piophilini and previous descriptions for Calliphoridae (Diptera) revealed differences in the muscle equipment between the larvae of both taxa. Among the Piophilini, the MAS patterns were highly conserved and only a genus-specific pattern for Piophila species and a species-specific pattern for C. furcata were found. Nevertheless, these differences in MAS patterns were subtle and some intraspecific variability was observed; hence, the MAS patterns do not appear to be suitable as diagnostic characters allowing for species determination of Piophilini larvae.

Connecting the Dots: From an Easy Method to Computerized Species Determination

“…Preliminary analyses of Piophilini species showed that their muscle equipment is clearly different from the Calliphoridae and Sarcophagidae ( Figure 7 ). The very similar species patterns observed between the two closely related Piophilina genera and a more distantly related genus of Thyreophorina, however, suggest that the larval MAS patterns may be highly conserved among the group [ 52 ]. Sufficiently conspicuous variations for reliable species differentiation were not visible to the naked eye.…”