Taxonomy
Family: Calliphoridae
Subfamily: Luciliinae
Genus: Lucilia Robineau-Desvoidy 1830
Species: sericata (Meigen 1826)
The first- and second-instar larvae were described by Erzinçlioglu (1989) and the third larval instar by Erzinçlioglu (1989) and Holloway (1991). The egg and puparium were described by Liu & Greenberg (1989).
Biology
Lucilia sericata, or the
common greenbottle fly, is found in many parts of the world.
It has been introduced into Australia from Europe. The species
is of forensic and veterinary importance worldwide. The species
will often be the first to colonise a corpse, and thus
provides a good indication of the post mortem
interval (Anderson 1995). It is also implicated in sheep
strike in many parts of the world (Ashworth and Wall
1994). In Australia, it
is unlikely that L.
sericata plays a major role in myiasis
as it has rarely been observed infesting live animals
(Waterhouse and Paramonov 1950). However, the sister species,
Lucilia cuprina, is
the main sheep fly in
Australia. Lucilia
sericata can be distinguished from L. cuprina by a
clump of paravertical setulae (as opposed to a single
setula) on the head, and a hairy metasternal
area on the ventral surface of the thorax
(Holloway 1991).
Distribution
Lucilia sericata is largely
coastal in distribution and is found in the cooler southern
parts of the country. It has been recorded from the
Australian Capital Territory, New South Wales, Northern
Territory, Queensland, South Australia, Tasmania and
Victoria.
Relevant Literature
Anderson, G.S. (1995) The use of insects in death
investigations: an analysis of cases in British Columbia
over a five year period. Canadian Society of Forensic Science Journal
28, 277-292.
Ashworth, J.R. and Wall, R. (1994) Responses of the
sheep blowflies Lucilia
sericata and L. cuprina to odour and the development of
semiochemical baits. Medical and Veterinary Entomology 8, 303-309.
Erzinçlioglu, Y.Z. (1989) The
early larval instars of Lucilia sericata and Lucilia cuprina
(Diptera: Calliphoridae): myiasis blowflies of Africa
and Australia. Journal
of Natural History
23, 1133-1136.
Fuller, M.E.
(1934) The insect inhabitants of carrion: a study in
animal ecology. Council
for Scientific and Industrial Research, Australia,
Bulletin 82,
1-63.
Holloway B.A. (1991) Morphological characters to
identify adult Lucila
sericata (Meigen, 1826) and L. cuprina
(Wiedemann, 1830) (Diptera:
Calliphoridae). New
Zealand Journal of Zoology 18, 413-420.
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. Waterhouse, D.F. and Paramonov, S.J. (1950) The
status of the two species of Lucilia (Diptera,
Calliphoridae) attacking sheep in Australia. Australian Journal
of Scientific Research. Series B. 3, 310-336.