The development of immature insects is commonly employed in forensic investigations to estimate time of death, or postmortem interval (PMI), of a corpse on which they are feeding. The bulk of this thesis focuses on factors influencing the accuracy of developmental data, and exploring how and why developmental data differ between studies involving the same species, and between different species. Because carrion feeding insects are ectotherms, temperature may be expected to significantly influence their behaviour, development and distribution, and the remainder of the thesis therefore focuses on the thermal biology and geographical distribution of seven forensically important blowflies. The species include Chrysomya albiceps, C. putoria, C. chloropyga, C. megacephala, C. marginalis, C. inclinata and Calliphora croceipalpis. A robust experimental design for estimating developmental models is outlined and tested. It is recommended that forensic entomologists should involve at least six constant temperatures, starting at about 7°C above the relevant developmental zero (D0) and going to about 10°C above the upper critical temperature, and a temporal sampling interval with a relative precision of about 10%. Using this design, focused experiments consistently provided the most reliable developmental data, while data pooled from different studies yielded inconsistent results. Similarly, developmental data from closely related species differed significantly, and surprisingly so did developmental data from different populations of the same species. Possible explanations for the latter lay in the different methods of data collection but only temporal sampling resolution had a direct influence on the accuracy of developmental data. Consequently, disparities in such data were primarily ascribed to genetic differences and phenotypic plasticity. Comparisons between numerous thermal thresholds of larvae, pupae and adults support this conclusion and suggest a phylogenetic component to the thermal biology of blowflies. Further comparisons were made between these temperature thresholds and the distributions of blowfly species present on two rhinoceros carcasses. These comparisons suggest that blowfly larvae with high upper lethal temperature thresholds dominate in interspecific competition in favorable thermal environments by raising maggot mass temperature above the thresholds of other carrion-feeding blowflies, through maggot-generated heat. Bioclimatic modeling using maximum entropy analysis provided a successful means of predicting whether a species is likely to occur in an area, and whether it would therefore be expected in a local carcass community. It also showed that temperature was less important than moisture in shaping the geographical distribution of African carrion blowflies. Based on these results, several recommendations are made for the practice of forensic entomology.

Thesis (Ph. D.)--University of Melbourne, 2002. / Includes bibliographical references (leaves 156-172).

Blowflies (Diptera: Calliphoridae) are main colonizers of decomposing remains and any information on the influences of their lifecycle of growth and development are important to forensic entomologists when estimating postmortem interval during a medicolegal death investigation. Pupal survival of blowfly species, Lucilia sericata were studied at different developmental stages following pupation, white (0-12 hrs), young (24 hrs), medium (5 days), old (9 days) were submerged at various immersion intervals ranging from 1 hr to 120 hr (5 days) in different water types (fresh, salt, polluted, and drinking water). Control group (N= 100) were white pupae that were not submerged were also observed in order to compare the survival and eclosion rate. Two trials of the submergence process were conducted to observe the pupae survival. Data were analyzed using multiple logistic regressions in a 3-way interaction to determine if significant differences were seen between the water, time in water, and pupal stage. Dissolved inorganic nitrogen (DIN) of NH4+, NO2-, NO3-, and oP or DIP were analyzed to examine to determine if a correlation between the water types could be seen. DIN analyses exhibited similar NO2- + NO3- and NO3- in polluted and fresh water. The results show that as the pupae developmental age progressed, the pupae generally survived longer immersion intervals. The survival of white pupae decreased with the increase of submergence for all four water types, exhibiting a 100%mortality rate with pupae submerged longer than 24-36 hours. While pupae immersed in polluted water had similar survival rates in the white stage, the survival rate declined as the developmental age increased for pupae immersed in polluted water. Pupae immersed in salt and polluted water had earlier eclosion times when compared to other water groups, emerging at 36 hours from when the control group first emerged at day 12. Understanding the survival rate of submerged Lucilia sericata (Diperta: Calliphoridae) pupae will be potentially useful for criminal investigations by providing a better understanding of the survival of pupae submerged in different aquatic environments.

Three major aspects of blowfly (Diptera: Calliphoridae) research were the focus of this study. Firstly, the phylogenetic relationships of 40 oestroid species from a variety of geographical localities were investigated using Cytochrome Oxidase b subunit I (COl) gene sequences. Maximum parsimony (MP) and Jukes-Cantor neighbor-joining (NJ) analyses both extracted a paraphyletic Calliphoridae, with the Calliphorinae-Luciliinae clade being sister to the Sarcophagidae. Short branch lengths within Chrysomya indicate a recent rapid radiation of this genus. Phormia and Protophormia either formed a sister clade to Chrysomya, or were embedded in this genus. Tree topologies were comparable between MP and NJ trees, but the positions of some genera were ambiguous. Secondly, developmental parameters and behaviour were investigated for four southern African species of forensically important blowflies viz. Chrysomya chloropyga, C. putoria, C. megacephala and Lucilia sericata, and ad hoc observations were made for Calliphora croceipalpis, Chrysomya marginalis and the predatory C. albiceps. Choice of oviposition substrate differed between species, mirroring substrate preferences in the field. Sexual dimorphism and dwarfism within a cohort complicated ageing maggots using size, but the use of developmental events (e.g. ecdysis) allowed ages to be determined unambiguously. Separate species status was supported for the previously synonymised C. chloropyga and C. putoria, by differences in maggot behaviour, larval growth rates and temperature optima. The proportion of total development time assigned to each larval instar and pupariation was variable among temperatures, but similar between congeneric species. Thirdly, since a negative linear relationship was found to occur between the developmental constant (K) and developmental zero (D₀) for both Calliphoridae and Sarcophagidae, the potential for predicting physiological parameters of unstudied taxa was investigated. Species and genera of Palaearctic origin generally had high K's and low D₀'s, and the reverse was true for the tropical taxa. It was found that both K and D₀ can be estimated for "unknown" taxa using the Felsenstein's Independent Contrasts (FIC) method of PDTree (Garland et al. 200 I), provided that branch lengths are relatively short and the phylogenetic position of the estimated taxon is unambiguous.

Orientador: Claudio José Von Zuben / Banca: Wesley Augusto Conde Godoy / Banca: David Montenegro Lapola / Resumo: No Brasil, dentre os exemplos de moscas-varejeiras que utilizam substratos discretos e efêmeros para alimentação e postura dos ovos, destaca-se a espécie Lucilia cuprina (Wied.), (Diptera: Calliphoridae) que é cosmopolita e importante do ponto de vista médico-veterinário, por ser, em várias regiões, responsável por grande parte dos casos de miíases em animais, principalmente ovinos. Em nosso país, pelo fato de ser eussinantrópica e comumente encontrada em lixo urbano, substratos em decomposição, frutos caídos, néctar de flores e fezes humanas, é vetora em potencial, de enteropatógenos para o homem. O presente trabalho teve por objetivos investigar fenômenos biológicos associados à ecologia populacional de L. cuprina. Foram coletados dados populacionais para seis diferentes densidades larvais desta espécie, implementando processos de modelagem matemática e simulação computacional para investigar o ajuste do modelo proposto aos dados de desenvolvimento larval, considerando parâmetros importantes em ecologia nutricional, atentando principalmente para o período de mais rápido crescimento larval (PMRC). Foram também investigados aspectos demográficos de imaturos e adultos desta espécie sob condições de laboratório. Os resultados obtidos no presente estudo indicam que, o aumento da densidade larval provoca efeitos nos parâmetros bionômicos de L. cuprina, com consequências nos adultos resultantes. Com o aumento da densidade larval, houve decréscimo no peso médio máximo adquirido pelos indivíduos, indicando que a competição larval torna-se cada vez mais acirrada, e o recurso per capita cada vez mais escasso para as larvas, reduzindo assim o tamanho dos indivíduos resultantes, porém com efeitos um pouco diferenciados na mortalidade larval. A mortalidade larval... (Resumo completo, clicar acesso eletrônico abaixo) / Abstract: In Brazil, Lucilia cuprina (Wied.) (Diptera: Calliphoridae) is one of the blowflies that use discrete and ephemeral substrates to feed and lay eggs. This species is cosmopolitan and has medical and veterinary importance in several regions and responsible for most cases of myiasis in animals, especially sheep. In our country, this eusynanthropic species is commonly found in urban wastes, decomposing substrates, fallen fruit, flower nectar and human feces, and represents a potential vector of pathogens to humans. This work aimed to investigate biological phenomena associated with the population ecology of L. cuprina. Population data were collected for six different larval densities of this species, implementing processes of mathematical modeling and computer simulation to investigate the fit of the model to the data of larval development, considering important parameters in nutritional ecology, paying attention mainly to the period of most rapid larval growth. Demographic aspects of adults and immature of this species under laboratory conditions were also investigated. The results of this study indicated that the increase in larval density caused effects on bionomic parameters of L. cuprina, with consequences to adults. With increasing larval densities, there was a decrease in the maximum average weight gained by the individuals, indicating that the larval competition becomes increasingly intense, and per capita resource becomes more scarce for the larvae, reducing the size of the resulting individuals, but with slightly different effects on larval mortality. The larval mortality and virtually all bionomic parameters of L. cuprina showed a cyclic pattern of variation with increasing densities, differing from the known patterns for Calliphoridae. In the literature, works involving population dynamics of insects typically... (Complete abstract click electronic access below) / Mestre

Made available in DSpace on 2014-06-11T19:30:15Z (GMT). No. of bitstreams: 0 Previous issue date: 2011-11-01Bitstream added on 2014-06-13T19:39:36Z : No. of bitstreams: 1 silva_gv_me_rcla.pdf: 986834 bytes, checksum: a5f5544d2d1951ff9cca6d904ee0c976 (MD5) / Coordenação de Aperfeiçoamento de Pessoal de Nível Superior (CAPES) / No Brasil, dentre os exemplos de moscas-varejeiras que utilizam substratos discretos e efêmeros para alimentação e postura dos ovos, destaca-se a espécie Lucilia cuprina (Wied.), (Diptera: Calliphoridae) que é cosmopolita e importante do ponto de vista médico-veterinário, por ser, em várias regiões, responsável por grande parte dos casos de miíases em animais, principalmente ovinos. Em nosso país, pelo fato de ser eussinantrópica e comumente encontrada em lixo urbano, substratos em decomposição, frutos caídos, néctar de flores e fezes humanas, é vetora em potencial, de enteropatógenos para o homem. O presente trabalho teve por objetivos investigar fenômenos biológicos associados à ecologia populacional de L. cuprina. Foram coletados dados populacionais para seis diferentes densidades larvais desta espécie, implementando processos de modelagem matemática e simulação computacional para investigar o ajuste do modelo proposto aos dados de desenvolvimento larval, considerando parâmetros importantes em ecologia nutricional, atentando principalmente para o período de mais rápido crescimento larval (PMRC). Foram também investigados aspectos demográficos de imaturos e adultos desta espécie sob condições de laboratório. Os resultados obtidos no presente estudo indicam que, o aumento da densidade larval provoca efeitos nos parâmetros bionômicos de L. cuprina, com consequências nos adultos resultantes. Com o aumento da densidade larval, houve decréscimo no peso médio máximo adquirido pelos indivíduos, indicando que a competição larval torna-se cada vez mais acirrada, e o recurso per capita cada vez mais escasso para as larvas, reduzindo assim o tamanho dos indivíduos resultantes, porém com efeitos um pouco diferenciados na mortalidade larval. A mortalidade larval... / In Brazil, Lucilia cuprina (Wied.) (Diptera: Calliphoridae) is one of the blowflies that use discrete and ephemeral substrates to feed and lay eggs. This species is cosmopolitan and has medical and veterinary importance in several regions and responsible for most cases of myiasis in animals, especially sheep. In our country, this eusynanthropic species is commonly found in urban wastes, decomposing substrates, fallen fruit, flower nectar and human feces, and represents a potential vector of pathogens to humans. This work aimed to investigate biological phenomena associated with the population ecology of L. cuprina. Population data were collected for six different larval densities of this species, implementing processes of mathematical modeling and computer simulation to investigate the fit of the model to the data of larval development, considering important parameters in nutritional ecology, paying attention mainly to the period of most rapid larval growth. Demographic aspects of adults and immature of this species under laboratory conditions were also investigated. The results of this study indicated that the increase in larval density caused effects on bionomic parameters of L. cuprina, with consequences to adults. With increasing larval densities, there was a decrease in the maximum average weight gained by the individuals, indicating that the larval competition becomes increasingly intense, and per capita resource becomes more scarce for the larvae, reducing the size of the resulting individuals, but with slightly different effects on larval mortality. The larval mortality and virtually all bionomic parameters of L. cuprina showed a cyclic pattern of variation with increasing densities, differing from the known patterns for Calliphoridae. In the literature, works involving population dynamics of insects typically... (Complete abstract click electronic access below)

The results presented in this dissertation have been partially presented at scientific meetings. Chapter 2 is an exact copy of the technical contents of a paper submitted to a scientific journal. The format of this paper however has been changed to comply with the format used in this dissertation. The results of this paper were partially presented at the 36th National Congress of the South African Society of Animal Science, 5 – 8 April 1998 held in Stellenbosch. In this chapter errors occurred in the execution of the trial, but these were corrected in the follow-up trial after consulting with the manufacturers. It is discussed in the paper. Results of chapter 3 were partially presented at the 5th International Sheep Veterinary Congress 21 – 25 January 2001 held in Stellenbosch and at an International Congress (The FLICS (Flystrike & Lice IPM Control Strategies) Conference, 25 – 27 June 2001, Launceston) in Tasmania by Mr. S.W.P. Cloete in 2001. The updated results are given in this chapter. The results of chapter 4 were presented at a combined congress between the Grasslands and the Animal Production Societies of South Africa (The GSSA/SASAS Joint Congress 2002. 13 – 16 May) in Christiana in 2002. The results in this chapter represent the same experimental period as was reported upon at that congress, but additional statistical analyses were executed on the same data set. Copies of the abstracts of the contributions to these meetings are attached in chapter 6. The major objective of this study initially was to evaluate the Lucitrap® system under South African conditions. During the experimental period I had an opportunity to visit Australia and meet many role players. It came under my attention that the control of the blowfly is a rather complex problem with many facets. A current issue worldwide on the use of chemicals as a control method against insects and its hazardous influence on the environment is forcing producers to minimize chemical residues in textiles and other agricultural products. An Integrated Pest Management (IPM) approach seems to be the only option. This study has been executed to try and understand some aspects of the blowfly problem for future application in such a blowfly control program.

Thesis (M.Sc.)--University of Wollongong, 2006. / Typescript. Includes bibliographical references: leaf 178-186.

Submitted by Giovana Menezes Nunes null (giovanamn@gmail.com) on 2018-03-05T21:31:01Z No. of bitstreams: 1 Dissertação final.pdf: 1011030 bytes, checksum: 5760be08bfbb9e4716ac2c08ef580e03 (MD5) / Approved for entry into archive by Elza Mitiko Sato null (elzasato@ibilce.unesp.br) on 2018-03-06T18:25:38Z (GMT) No. of bitstreams: 1 nunes_gm_me_sjrp.pdf: 1011030 bytes, checksum: 5760be08bfbb9e4716ac2c08ef580e03 (MD5) / Made available in DSpace on 2018-03-06T18:25:38Z (GMT). No. of bitstreams: 1 nunes_gm_me_sjrp.pdf: 1011030 bytes, checksum: 5760be08bfbb9e4716ac2c08ef580e03 (MD5) Previous issue date: 2018-02-19 / Coordenação de Aperfeiçoamento de Pessoal de Nível Superior (CAPES) / O desenvolvimento da entomologia forense no país tem sido concretizado pelos estudos de insetos das ordens Diptera e Coleoptera, sendo os dípteros considerados o principal grupo de interesse médico legal. Geralmente, o primeiro grupo de insetos a colonizar um cadáver são as varejeiras, mais especificamente, as moscas da família Calliphoridae e Sarcophagidae, seguido do grupo Fanniidae, presente no quarto e quinto estágio de decomposição do cadáver. Ao se estabelecer as principais diretrizes e metas da entomologia forense no Brasil, destacou-se a necessidade do conhecimento taxonômico dos grupos de interesse forense, uma vez que, sem essas informações, não é possível realizar a identificação segura das espécies. Em casos de espécies próximas evolutivamente, por exemplo, os caracteres morfológicos podem ser insuficientes para diferenciá-las, sendo necessários outros métodos de análise para auxiliar na categorização distinta dos táxons como, por exemplo, análises citogenéticas e moleculares. Assim como pode ocorrer erros na distinção entre as moscas adultas (o que levou a diversas sinonimizações de espécies dos grupos Sarcophagidae e Fanniidae), para distinguir as larvas é um processo ainda mais complicado, por apresentarem uma morfologia extremamente similar. Dessa forma, o presente projeto teve como objetivo descrever as características citogenéticas de larvas de terceiro instar de Fannia sabrosky (Seago, 1954) (Fanniidae) e Peckia (Squamatodes) ingens (Walker, 1849) (Sarcophagidae) e comparar com os dados citogenéticos descritos na literatura para todas outras espécies da ordem Diptera de importância forense, com ênfase biológica (biologia reprodutiva), taxonômica (citotaxonômica e cariossistemática) e evolutiva. Nossos resultados demonstraram que P. (S.) ingens (2n=10) e F. sabrosky (2n=14) possuem cariótipos incomuns quando comparados as outras varejeiras (2n = 12), o que possibilita distingui-las de outros sarcofagídeos, califorídeos e muscídeos presentes na fauna cadavérica. P. (S.) ingens e F. sabrosky também puderam ser diferenciadas pelas análises citogenéticas do cromocentro, da heterocromatina, do nucléolo e da atividade transcricional. Além disso, caracterizamos pela primeira vez as fases de espermatogênese dessas espécies, destacando a importância dessas ferramentas para a entomologia forense. / The development of the forensic entomology in the country has been concretized by the insect studies of the orders Diptera and Coleoptera, being dipterous considered the main group of legal medical interest. Generally, the first group of insects to colonize a corpse are the blowflies, more specifically the flies of the family Calliphoridae and Sarcophagidae, followed by the group Fanniidae, present in the fourth and fifth stage of decomposition of the corpse. When establishing the main guidelines and goals of forensic entomology in Brazil, the need for taxonomic knowledge of forensic interest groups was emphasized, since, without this information, it is not possible to carry out the safe identification of the species. In cases of evolutionarily close species, for example, morphological characters may be insufficient to differentiate them, and other methods of analysis are necessary to aid in the distinct categorization of taxa such as cytogenetic and molecular analyzes. As errors can occur in the distinction between adult flies (which led to several species synonyms of Sarcophagidae and Fanniidae), to distinguish the larvae is an even more complicated process, because they present an extremely similar morphology. Thus, the present project aims to describe the cytogenetic characteristics of larvae from the third instar of Fannia sabrosky (Seago, 1954) (Fanniidae) and Peckia (Squamatodes) ingens (Walker, 1849) (Sarcophagidae) and compare it with the cytogenetic data described in the literature for all other species of the order Diptera of forensic importance, with biological emphasis (reproductive biology), taxonomic (cytotaxonomic and karyosystematic) and evolutionary. Our results showed that P. (S.) ingens (2n = 10) and F. sabrosky (2n = 14) have uncommon karyotypes when compared to others blowflies (2n = 12), which makes it possible to distinguish them from others sarcophagids, calliphorids and muscids present in the cadaverous fauna. P. (S.) ingens and F. sabrosky could also be differentiated by cytogenetic analyzes of chromocenter, heterochromatin, nucleolus and transcriptional activity. In addition, we characterize for the first time the phases of spermatogenesis of these species, highlighting the importance of these tools for forensic entomology.

Orientadores: Ana Maria Lima de Azeredo-Espin, Claudia Augusta de Moraes Russo / Tese (doutorado) - Universidade Estadual de Campinas, Instituto de Biologia / Made available in DSpace on 2018-08-13T11:33:45Z (GMT). No. of bitstreams: 1 Junqueira_AnaCarolinaMartins_D.pdf: 11103944 bytes, checksum: 9e7bb5e64272846641444a5fa3b833b0 (MD5) Previous issue date: 2008 / Resumo: O DNA mitocondrial (mtDNA) de três espécies da família Calliphoridae foi completamente sequenciado, apresentando 15004 pb em Chloroprocta idioidea, 16143 pb em Calliphora vomitoria e 16635 pb em Phormia regina. Os três genomas mitocondriais apresentaram a ordem gênica ancestral de Pancrustacea, contendo 13 genes codificadores de proteínas (GCPs), duas subunidades de RNA ribossomal e vinte e dois RNAs transportadores (tRNAs). No entanto, P. regina apresentou uma duplicação envolvendo a sequência completa dos genes de tRNAIle e tRNAGln, além da sequência parcial do tRNAMet. Uma duplicação similar foi previamente descrita para espécies do gênero Chrysomya na mesma localização, inserida no domínio hipervariável da região controle do mtDNA. A composição de nucleotídeos dos mtDNAs sequenciados mostrou um alto viés de bases A e T (71.7% em C. idioidea, 72.9% em C. vomitoria e 75.6% em P.regina), principalemente nas terceiras posições do códon e regiões não-codificadoras, onde o conteúdo A+T é >90%. As reconstruções filogenéticas foram conduzidas com todas as espécies de dípteros com mtDNAs completos, cosistindo no estudo mais amplo com sequências de mtDNA da ordem Diptera. O emprego de genes individuais para a reconstrução de filogenias resultou em topologias variadas com baixo suporte, enquanto o uso de sequências concatenadas de nucleotídeos e aminoácidos dos GCPs mostrou resolução para as relações internas de Diptera. A monofilia de Muscomorpha não obteve suporte nas análises apresentadas neste trabalho, assim como a de Acalyptratae. A família Calliphoridae foi recuperada como monofilética, mas as relações internas de Oestroidea recuperaram espécies de Muscoidea como um grupo irmão de Calliphoridae. As relações entre as subfamílias de Calliphoridae indicaram que Luciliinae e Calliphorinae são grupos irmãos, relacionados a Chrysomyinae. Devido à importância médica, veterinária, sanitária, econômica e forense da família Calliphoridae, o esclarecimento das relações evolutivas desta família é interessante para guiar futuros estudos acerca da evolução do parasitismo e do hábito de causar miíases, além de contribuir para o diagnóstico espécie-específico. Além disso, a caracterização de genomas mitocondriais completos também pode contribuir na resolução de filogenias da ordem Diptera e estudos em evolução molecular e divergências antigas de insetos. / Abstract: In this study, we present the complete mitochondrial DNA (mtDNA) sequence of three Calliphoridae (Diptera: Brachycera) species: Chloroprocta idioidea, Calliphora vomitoria and Phormia regina, which had 15004, 16143 and 16635 bp, respectively. Each genome was arranged in the same order described for insects and crustaceans, containing 13 protein coding genes (PCGs), two ribossomal RNA subunits (rRNA) and twenty-two transfer RNA (tRNA), with the exception of P. regina, which presented a duplication involving the complete sequences of tRNAIle and tRNAGln genes, besides a partial sequence of the tRNAMet. A similar duplication has been previously described for Chrysomya species in the same location, inserted in the hypervariable domain of the mitochondrial control region. The nucleotide composition was heavily biased toward As and Ts (71.7% for C. idioidea, 72.9% for C. vomitoria and 75.6% for P.regina), mainly when considering third codon positions and non-coding regions, where the A+T content was >90%. The phylogenetic reconstructions were conducted for all available dipteran species in GenBank, this being the most comprehensive study carried out so far with complete mitochondrial genome sequences. The use of single genes has shown that different topologies were obtained with low support, whereas the use of nucleotide and amino-acid data sets with concatenated PCGs usually provided resolution for intraordinal relationships in Diptera. The monophyly of Muscomorpha was not supported in our analyses, as well as the monophyly of Acalyptratae, which is a major clade of Schizophora. The Calliphoridae was a monophyletic family, but the superfamily Oestroidea was disrupted by the inclusion of Muscoidea species as a sister group of Calliphoridae. Within Calliphoridae, the subfamilies Luciliinae and Calliphorinae were clustered together, related to the Chrysomyinae subfamily. In view of its sanitary, medical, economic and forensic importance, knowledge of Calliphoridae relationships is of interest to guide future works on parasitism evolution of the myiasis habit and specific molecular diagnosis of species. In addition, the characterization of complete mitochondrial sequences could provide insights with regard to dipteran relationships and general molecular evolutionary studies on deep-level phylogenies of insects. / Doutorado / Genetica Animal e Evolução / Doutor em Genetica e Biologia Molecular