Abstract
Chrysomya pinguis (Walker) (Diptera: Calliphoridae) is an endemic Asiatic blow fly species of forensic importance. Chrysomya pinguis is one of the first species to colonize a corpse, especially in high altitude areas during spring and autumn when the ambient temperature is lower. Despite its potential for forensic investigations to estimate the minimum postmortem interval (PMImin), little is known about the development of C. pinguis. In this study, C. pinguis was collected from the Yangtze River Delta region of China and reared at seven constant temperatures between 16°C and 34°C to investigate the effect of temperature on development duration, accumulated degree hours and larval body length of C. pinguis. Isomorphen and isomegalen diagrams for C. pinguis were generated using the results, and equations describing the variation in larval body length during development and the temperature-induced variation in development time were also obtained. Chrysomya pinguis can complete its life cycle at 16–34°C. The mean (±s.d.) developmental durations of C. pinguis from egg to adult at 16°C, 19°C, 22°C, 25°C, 28°C, 31°C and 34°C were 811.0 ± 3.8, 544.8 ± 2.0, 379.8 ± 1.8, 306.7 ± 2.4, 250.0 ± 2.8, 203.2 ± 2.1 and 185.3 ± 1.6 h, respectively. The mean (±s.e.) developmental threshold temperature D0 and the thermal summation constant K of the whole developmental process of C. pinguis were estimated as 10.88 ± 0.21°C and 4256.50 ± 104.50 degree hours, respectively. This study provides fundamental development data for the use of C. pinguis to estimate PMImin.
Highlights
Calliphorids, commonly known as blow flies, play an important role in the decomposition process of animals in most terrestrial ecosystems [1]
Thermal summation models were established through linear regression analyses of the relationship between accumulated degree hour (ADH), the duration of six developmental stages and the total developmental
This study provides the basic developmental data of C. pinguis and development models including thermal summation model, and isomorphen and isomegalen diagrams for a range of seven temperatures between 16°C and 34°C
Summary
Calliphorids, commonly known as blow flies, play an important role in the decomposition process of animals in most terrestrial ecosystems [1]. As they are often the first to arrive and oviposit on a dead body, the oldest individual of Calliphorids collected on the corpse is often used to obtain a minimum postmortem interval (PMImin) for solving cases involving death [2,3,4,5]. As blow flies are ectotherms and their developmental time is species specific [6,7], it is important to accurately identify the blow fly species and reconstruct temperature profiles of the scene to correctly estimate the PMImin
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