Lateral view

Male frons width (blue arrow) in respect to anterior ocellus (red arrow) in Calliphora albifrontalis (upper) and Calliphora stygia (bottom)

Australian distribution

Taxonomy

Family: Calliphoridae

Subfamily: Calliphorinae

Genus: Calliphora Robineau-Desvoidy 1830

Subgenus: Neocalliphora Brauer & Bergenstamm 1891

Species: albifrontalis Malloch 1932

Biology

This carrion-breeding fly has also been observed in cases of animal myiasis (Murray 1978), and poses a problem for the sheep industry in Western Australia (Mackerras and Fuller 1937; Murray 1978). Wallman and Adams (1997) suggest that limited hybridisation may be occurring in the sympatric populations of Calliphora albifrontalis and its sister species, Calliphora stygia (Wallman et al. 2005), with the hybrid likely to be morphologically similar to C. albifrontalis. Monzu (1977) demonstrated the potential of hydridisation between these two species by successfully producing laboratory crosses.

Calliphora albifrontalis is morphologically similar to C. stygia, with the upper third of the fore femora being darkened, whereas this region is totally orange in C. stygia. Male C. albifrontalis can be readily distinguished by the minimum frons width being greater than the width of the anterior ocellus, whereas in male C. stygia the minimum frons width is less than the width of the anterior ocellus (see picture). To determine the gender of your fly click here.

Distribution

Calliphora albifrontalis occurs throughout the south-west of Australia, whilst its sister species, Calliphora stygia, is found throughout south-eastern Australia. However, these two species occur sympatrically on Eyre Peninsula, southern Yorke and Fleurieu Peninsulas and Kangaroo Island. Calliphora albifrontalis is only found in South Australia and Western Australia. In Western Australia, this species is likely to decrease in abundance during the height of summer (Newman et al. 1930).

Relevant Literature

Mackerras, I.M. and Fuller, M.E. (1937) A survey of the Australian sheep blowflies. Journal of the Council for Scientific and Industrial Research 10, 261-270.

Monzu, N. (1977) Coexistence of carrion-breeding Calliphoridae (Diptera) in Western Australia. PhD Thesis, University of Western Australia.

Murray, M.D. (1978) The species of flies reared from struck sheep in Western Australia. Australian Veterinary Journal 54, 262.

Newman, L.J., O'Connor, B.A. and Anderwartha,H.G. (1930). Some observations on the seasonal and regional incidence of blowflies in the south-west of Western Australia. Journal of Agriculture of Western Australia 7, 592-560.

Wallman, J.F. (2001) Third-instar larvae of common carrion-breeding blowflies of the genus Calliphora (Diptera: Calliphoridae) in South Australia. Invertebrate Taxonomy 15, 37-51.

Wallman, J.F. and Adams, M. (1997) Molecular systematics of Australian carrion-breeding blowflies of the genus Calliphora (Diptera: Calliphoridae). Australian Journal of Zoology 45, 337-356.

Wallman, J.F., Leys, R. and Hogendoorn, K. (2005). Molecular systematics of Australian carrion-breeding blowflies (Diptera: Calliphoridae) based on mitochondrial DNA. Invertebrate Systematics 19, 1-15.