大头金蝇与广额金蝇三龄幼虫的形态描述

金蝇属在河北省主要发现大头金蝇Chrysomyia megacephala(Fab.)及广额金蝇Ch.phaonis(Seg.)两种。据范滋德(1965)中国常见蝇类检索表载,肥躯金蝇Ch.pinguis(Walk.)亦见于北京。大头金蝇为该省蝇类优势种之一,幼虫孳生在稀人粪中,夏秋季节虫口密度最大,为肠道传染病主要媒介之一;而广额金蝇的习性尚不太了解,在石家庄于11月中旬到12月中旬出现,季节很短,数量也少。该两种幼虫在形态上很近似,大头金蝇幼虫过去在文献上虽有所记载,但不详尽;至于广额金蝇的幼虫则尚无记载。鉴于此,本文将这两种的三龄幼虫作一形态描述,以资鉴别。     

上海常见蝇类幼虫小志

本文用检索表的方式报告了采自上海的50多种与人类杂处的常见蝇类和其他双翅类的幼虫鉴别特征;其中34种(内3种非上海产)有种的鉴别特征,其余的有些仅鉴别到属、亚科或科。对过去还未见记载的元厕蝇和斑跖黑蝇的幼虫、以及绯胫纹蝇和突额家蝇的蛹的形态,文内作了必要的描述。从绯胫纹蝇的口咽器和卵的形态看来,纹蝇属是与棘花蝇类很近缘的。     

河北省常见蝇类幼虫小志

关于我国蝇类幼虫的形态分类,除范滋德(1957)对上海区系作有研究外,其他地区尚很少报导,甚至许多常见种幼虫的形态至今尚无描述。有鉴于此,我们将近年来在河北省各地采到的标本共计36种用检索表方式作一报告,其中蓝翠蝇Orthellia caerulea Wd.,新陆原伏蝇Protophormia terrae-novae R.-D.,暗额黑蝇Ophyra obscurifrons Sabr.,东方角蝇Lyperosia exigua Meij.及横带花蝇Anthomyia illocata Wlk.五种幼虫过去在国内外尚无记载或记载得还不够详细,本文作了必要的描述,并参考(1948)的著作,与它们的近缘种分别进行了比较。     

《中国常见蝇类检索表》(第二版)

该书由范滋德主编,1992年三月北京科学出版社出版。全书逾千页,插图五千余幅。该书初版于1965年,受到国内外重视。第二版有我国有瓣蝇类各科动物志的主要成员参加编写,共计9科280属1546种,约为初版种数的5倍。即粪蝇科10种,花蝇科357种,蝇科615种,丽蝇科202种,麻蝇科232种,寄蝇科108种,胃蝇科6种,狂蝇科5种,皮棍科11种;内有新亚属3,新种70,新亚种人除了上述成由检索表外,尚有幼虫检索表8科107种。成虫检索表均按分类系统排列,各属记有文献出处,模式种和属征、分布、生态习性等;各种有鉴别特征、文献出处和国内外分布,…     

mtDNA中COⅠ分子标记在常见食尸性蝇类鉴定中的应用

死后不同时间,在尸体上出现不同种类食尸性蝇类的演替规律,可用于准确推断死亡时间。传统上仅依据蝇类形态学特征来判断种属,但由于蝇类的形态结构复杂和种间形态差异微小等特点,对蝇类尤其是对蝇类幼虫的种属鉴别很难。因此应用分子生物学方法对食尸性蝇类及其幼虫进行种属鉴定非常重要。本研究主要是利用此方法对我国西部部分地区常见双翅目食尸性蝇类包括：开普黑蝇、大头金蝇、丝光绿蝇及部分卵,铜绿蝇、棕尾别麻蝇及部分幼虫和蛹的线粒体DNA(mtDNA)上细胞色素氧化酶辅酶Ⅰ(COⅠ)中278 bp的基因序列进行鉴别。除个别蝇类如丝光绿蝇与铜绿蝇外,该方法均能有效地将上述食尸性蝇类鉴定到种属水平。在我国,它将成为法医鉴别食尸性蝇类种属的可靠依据。     

双向凝胶电泳图谱用于常见尸食性蝇类初孵幼虫的鉴别

双向凝胶电泳分析技术已在生物科学各领域被广泛应用,蛋白质组作图的意义已经日益显现。通过对4种常见尸食性蝇类初孵幼虫蛋白质组双向凝胶电泳和图象分析,发现各种类间双向凝胶电泳图谱差异显著,并对相应的等电点和相对分子量进行聚类和判别分析,结果表明,建立合适的尸食性蝇类初孵幼虫的双向凝胶电泳图谱可用于鉴别形态学极易混淆的昆虫种类。图4参17     

四种麻蝇早期幼虫形态的扫描电镜观察

对常见麻蝇早期幼虫的形态观察研究有助于蝇类早期幼虫的分类及其所致蝇蛆病的诊断。有关蝇类早期幼虫形态的扫描电镜研究报道很少。菊池滋(1972,1974)及作者先后对肠胃蝇(Gasterophilus intestinalis)、牛皮蝇(Hypoderma bovis)、纹皮蝇(H.1ineatum)、羊狂蝇(Oestrus ovis)及7种丽蝇与绿蝇(景涛1985)的早期幼虫与三龄幼虫用扫描电镜作过观察研究。但对麻蝇幼虫的观察至今尚未见详细报道。为此,1981年至1983年对常见4种麻蝇早期幼虫进行了扫描电镜观察。材料与方法标本来源从野外采到怀孕的雌性麻蝇,或用诱蝇笼在旁边开一12×12cm的口,缝…     

中国瑟姬小蜂及二新种的描述（膜翅目：姬小蜂科）

瑟姬小蜂属Cirrospilus昆虫是鳞翅目,双翅目,特别是细蛾,潜叶蛾,潜叶蝇类及其他荫蔽性小幼虫或蛹的重要寄生蜂,有些也能重寄生于绒茧蜂和蜘蛛卵等中,本文除二新种描述外,还收入瑟姬小蜂六种。一并列于检索表中。     

四川蝇科的调查

五十年代开始,作者对四川有瓣蝇类(Calyptratae)进行了调查,同时参照历史文献,到目前为止,已知四川地区蝇科蝇类(Muscidae flies)有10亚科37属197种,其中《中国常见蝇类检索表》已记载112种,现补记85种及常见种的生态习性。     

肥须亚麻蝇幼虫不同发育阶段气门形态学变化

为了满足实际工作中利用蝇类幼虫日龄推断尸体死后间隔时间的需求，本文采用显微镜观察不同龄期肥须亚麻蝇 Parasarcophaga crassipalpis (Macquart)幼虫气门的形态学变化，通过计算机图像分析系统对幼虫的前、后气门等可用于判断幼虫生长发育的形态学指标进行测量。结果表明：肥须亚麻蝇幼虫前、后气门随时间而发生规律性的变化，幼虫前气门色素管部的平均光密度及其长宽比，以及后气门的平均光密度这 3 项指标是推算幼虫日龄较理想的指标，对法医学中尸体死亡时间的推测具有重要的指示意义。此外，叠龄期作为幼虫发育的必经阶段，可为特殊时间点的推测提供可靠依据。     

珠江三角洲猪尸体上昆虫群落的演替及其对法医学中死亡时间推断的指示意义

为了解决刑事案件中死者死亡时间推断的难题,不同季节野外环境用18头猪尸体做模拟材料观察和筛选对推断死亡时间高度准确的昆虫指标。结果表明,幼虫开始出现时间、幼虫开始爬离时间、大部分幼虫爬离尸体的时间、开始化蛹的时间、大部分幼虫化蛹的时间、开始羽化的时间、羽化结束的时间等若干昆虫指标比较敏感且稳定可用作死亡时间的精确推断。在珠江三角洲春季、夏季及秋季尸体腐败很快,分别在259±23,202±18,277±20 h进入白骨化期,而冬季则时间较长,约经过1 297±63 h才进入白骨化期。大约有47种嗜尸性昆虫在尸体生态环境出现,大多数种类全年可见,尸体上的昆虫群落的优势种为大头金蝇Chrysomya megacephala、绯颜裸金蝇Achoetandrus rufifacies及厚环黑蝇Hydrotaea (Ophyra) spinigera。蝇类昆虫在尸体上只能大规模繁殖一代尸体即白骨化。根据以上结果可确定一些可用于死亡时间推断的关键时间点。     

First description of the immature stages of Hemilucilia segmentaria (Diptera: Calliphoridae)

The immature stages oí Hemilucilia segmentaria (Fabricius, 1805) (Diptera: Calliphoridae) are described. Egg morphology and structures such as the cephalopharyngeal skeleton, anterior and posterior spiracles, and the dorsal spines between the prothorax and mesothorax from first, second and third instar larvae are characterized, using light and scanning electron microscopy. This species is abundant in Neotropical forests and, because of its necrophagous behavior, is of substantial medico-legal importance for estimating the postmortem interval in criminal investigations. Information presented herein may be useful to differentiate among eggs and larvae of closely related species and to supplement the database for blowfly identification.     

A first insight into the scanning behaviour of the presocial blow fly larvae

Aggregation of necrophagous larvae has several benefits: the sharing of salivary enzymes (exodigestion), temperature regulation, protection from predators and parasites, etc., and is well developed in blow flies (Diptera: Calliphoridae). The present study focuses on the aggregation mechanism used by the necrophagous larvae of Lucilia sericata Meigen, the common green bottle fly. The ability of single larva to detect and follow a signal (trail) created by conspecifics is investigated initially. A circular ring is drawn in a Petri dish where 20 starved larvae have crawled for a period of 30 min. A naïve (test) larva is then placed in the dish and video‐tracked. Naïve larvae are able to detect the boundaries of the larvae‐crawled area and stay preferentially within this conspecific‐marked zone. In a second step, the orientation of larvae by scanning, a dedicated, ground‐signal detection behaviour of dipteran larvae, is analyzed. Four experimental conditions are tested: control, presence of food, conspecifics, and food + conspecifics. When conspecifics have been previously present in a given area, the scanning behaviour by naïve larvae in this area decreases (both in number and frequency of scans). Accordingly, scanning by necrophagous larvae of L. sericata should be considered not only as locomotion behaviour, but also as a potential way to detect signals from conspecifics for the purpose of aggregation. The chemical composition of the attractant(s), the behavioural effects (attraction or retention) and the implication of larval signalling in the aggregation process are new fields to explore.     

Behavioural response of Lucilia sericata to a decaying body infested by necrophagous insects

Numerous insect species are necrophagous, with Dipterans and Coleopterans being the most abundant on a corpse. Whether the presence of necrophageous species on a corpse affects the attraction of adult blowflies to the corpse is sparsely studied. We test the hypothesis that Lucilia sericata can discriminate the odour of a noncolonized cadaver from the odour of a cadaver on which conspecific and/or heterospecific necrophagous insects are feeding. The volatile organic compounds are collected from decomposing rats under four modalities: (i) in the absence of insects; (ii) in the presence of L. sericata adults; (iii) in the presence of Dermestes frischii adults; (iv) and in the presence of both D. frischii adults and L. sericata adults. During a multiple‐choice bioassay, blowflies are exposed to the four odour samples, and are shown to prefer the odour of a corpse where conspecific larvae are present. We also expect blowflies to avoid cadavers on which predators where present, although L. sericata are not repulsed by the odour of a cadaver colonized by hide beetles. We then compare the average quantities of all 61 volatile molecules identified, finding that the presence of necrophagous insects impacts some of them. However, none of the volatile organic compounds previously reported in the literature as being attractive for L. sericata adults are impacted by the presence of necrophagous insects. The results of the present study suggest that blowfly larvae modify the volatilome of a corpse, enabling adults to discriminate a colonized from a noncolonized corpse.     

Ovipositional Behavior in Predator and Prey Blowflies

In this study we analyzed the ovipositional behavior of C. albiceps, C. megacephala and L. eximia in response to previous presence of larvae of different species, both predator and prey. The preference for substrates that previously had had no larvae was predominant for all species. However, the experiments showed that C. megacephala and L. eximia avoid laying eggs principally in patches with previous presence of C. albiceps larvae. The implications of these results for the necrophagous Diptera community dynamics are discussed.     

Thermoregulation in gregarious dipteran larvae: evidence of species‐specific temperature selection

Due to the ephemeral nature of carcasses they grow on, necrophagous blowfly larvae should minimize the time spent on the cadaver. This could be achieved by moving to high‐temperature areas. On that basis, we theorized that larvae placed in a heterogeneous thermal environment would move to the higher temperature that speed up their development. This study was designed to (1) test the ability of necrophagous larvae to orientate in a heterogeneous thermal environment, and (2) compare the temperatures selected by the larvae of three common blowfly species: Lucilia sericata (Meigen), Calliphora vomitoria (L.) and Calliphora vicina (Robineau‐Desvoidy). For this purpose, we designed a setup we named Thermograde. It consists of a food‐supplied linear thermal gradient that allows larvae to move, feed, and grow in close‐to‐real conditions, and to choose to stay at a given temperature. For each species and replication, 80 young third instars were placed on the thermal gradient. The location of larvae was observed after 19 h, with fifteen replications per species. The larvae of each species formed aggregations that were always located at the same temperatures, which were highly species‐specific: 33.3 ± 1.52 °C for L. sericata, 29.6 ± 1.63 °C for C. vomitoria, and 22.4 ± 1.55 °C for C. vicina. According to the literature, these value allows a fast development of the larvae, but not to reach the maximum development rate. As control experiments clearly demonstrate that larval distribution was not due to differences in food quality, we hypothesized that the local temperature selection by larvae may result from a trade‐off between development quality and duration. Indeed, temperature controls not only the development rate of the larvae, but also the quality of their growth and survival rate. Finally, results raise questions regarding the way larvae moved on the gradient and located their preferential temperature.     

To eat or get heat: Behavioral trade‐offs between thermoregulation and feeding in gregarious necrophagous larvae

The thermoregulation behavior of Lucilia sericata larvae (Diptera: Calliphoridae), a necrophagous species that feeds on vertebrate cadavers, was investigated. These larvae require high heat incomes to develop, and can elevate temperatures by forming large aggregates. We hypothesized that L. sericata larvae should continue to feed at temperatures up to 38 °C, which can be reached inside larval masses. Thermal regulation behavior such as movement between a hot food spot and colder areas was also postulated. The hypotheses were tested by tracking for 1 h the activity of single, starved third instar larvae in a Petri dish containing 1 food spot (FS) that was heated to a constant temperature of 25 °C, 34 °C or 38 °C with an ambient temperature of 25 °C. The influence of previous conspecific activity in the food on larval behavior was also tested. The crops of larvae were dissected to monitor food content in the digestive systems. Based on relative crop measurements, larvae fed at all food temperatures, but temperature strongly affected larval behavior and kinematics. The total time spent by larvae in FS and the duration of each stay decreased at high FS temperature. Previous activity of conspecifics in the food slightly increased the time spent by larvae in FS and also decreased the average distance to FS. Therefore, necrophagous L. sericata larvae likely thermoregulate during normal feeding activities by adjusting to local fluctuations in temperature, particularly inside maggot masses. By maintaining a steady internal body temperature, larvae likely reduce their development time.     

Forensic entomology: a new hypothesis for the chronological succession pattern of necrophagous insect on human corpses

Forensic entomology can help to estimate the time elapsed since death, by studying the necrophagous species collected on a cadaver and its surroundings. The determination of the so- called post mortem interval (PMI or period of first oviposition) is based on the development time of necrophagous dipterans and on the chronological pattern of insects’ succession on the corpse throughout the decaying process. In the present study, authors investigated this succession by the analysis of the database of the Department of Forensic Entomology of the French Gendarmerie over 12 years (1992–2003) in order to propose a new approach and a new hypothsesis of the dynamic of necrophagous-insects’ populations present on a human cadaver over time. For all treated cases, the presence/absence and the oldest development stage of the species were recorded. Data were analyzed by statistical and Wagner parsimony methods. The statistic results allowed the association of groups of species with typical developmental stages. The Wagner parsimony analysis showed that the dynamic of the necrophagous insect population present on a cadaver could be characterised by specific species. Together, they allowed establishing hypotheses of succession of necrophagous insects on human cadavers over time that could be usefull in the PMI estimation.     

Delaying insect access alters community composition on small carrion: a quantitative approach

We present a study of interactions in the highly competitive insect communities inhabiting the carrion of small mammals. Via manipulation in a fully quantitative design, we delayed community development by excluding insect colonization in mouse and rat carcasses for 3 days, to study the role of early competitively dominant colonizers [burying beetles (Nicrophorus spp.; Coleoptera: Silphidae) and blowfly larvae (Diptera: Calliphoridae)] in the course of heterotrophic succession on small cadavers. Earlier studies demonstrated that in the case of large mammalian carrion, exclusion of insects’ access to the carcass in the early stages of decomposition altered the successional trajectory and species assemblages. However, the effect of such manipulation in easy monopolizable small vertebrate carrion remained unknown. Our results demonstrate that delaying insect access to carrion significantly lowered blowfly larvae abundances, while it simultaneously had no effect on colonization and carrion burial by burying beetles. Higher abundances of blowfly larvae seem to deter necrophagous beetles, whereas they are not harmful to the larvae of flesh flies, at least in larger rat carcasses. Predatory beetle species preferred the lower abundances of blowfly larvae, presumably due to better accessibility of their prey. Our results therefore suggest that in the course of the entire season, larvae of blowflies are the dominant competitors in small carcasses, and significantly affect the assembly of other insect groups, whereas burying beetles may exhibit a more temporal pattern of dominance.     

Seasonal composition and temporal succession of necrophagous and predator beetles on pig carrion in central Argentina

Insects are the most important components of the terrestrial fauna associated with carrion because they recycle organic matter back into the ecosystem. They can be classified into four ecological categories comprising: necrophages; parasites and predators of necrophagous species; omnivores, and incidentals. To determine the composition and temporal succession of necrophagous and predator beetles on pig carrion, four experiments, one in each season, were carried out during 2004 in a rural area of Cordoba, central Argentina. Two pigs (Sus scrofa L.), weighing approximately 8 kg each, were used in each of the four experiments. The animals were killed by a sharp blow to the head and immediately placed in an appropriate trap. One pig was placed in the shade and the other in direct sunlight. Beetle fauna were collected daily during the first 4 weeks and thereafter every 2 or 3 days. Five stages of decomposition were observed and a total of 1586 adults and 4309 immatures of Coleoptera belonging to the Staphylinidae, Nitidulidae, Cleridae, Dermestidae, Histeridae, Anthicidae and Trogidae families were collected during the four experiments. The necrophagous community was represented by Dermestes maculates (De Geer), nitidulid species and members of the Trox genus. Staphylinidae, Cleridae and Histeridae species were considered to be the main predators of the necrophagous species.