Objective: Using CO II sequences to identify common species of carrion-breeding flies and larvae.
Methods: flies and larvae were collected on the corpses of rats in Zhengzhou district, DNA was extracted, CO II sequences were amplified and sequenced. Clustalx and MEGA 4.0 software were used to analyze the gene sequences and to construct the phylogenetic trees.
Results: There was no significant gene difference between adults and larvae. COII gene sequences could be used to identify Boettcherisca peregrina, Aldrichina grahami and Lucilia illustris but they could not distinguish Lucilia cuprina from the Lucilia sericata because of their close evolutionary distance and single nucleotide polymorphisms in aldrichina grahami and Lucilia illustris populations were found.
Conclusion: CO II sequence of mtDNA in Zhengzhou district can be used effectively to identify some common species of carrion-breeding fly. The method is simple and accurate.