Development of Chrysomya rufifacies (Diptera: Calliphoridae) at Constant Temperatures Within its Colony Range in Yangtze River Delta Region of China

Abstract

The age of insects found on corpses is often used to estimate the minimum postmortem interval by forensic entomologists. Insect development is affected by biotic and abiotic factors, and temperature is the most important environmental factor that determines the length of insect development. Chrysomya rufifacies (Macquart) (Diptera: Calliphoridae) is a globally distributed fly that is commonly found on corpses, and this study investigated the development of C. rufifacies from China at various constant temperatures. At 16, 19, 22, 25, 28, 31, and 34°C, the developmental time from egg to adult was 870.17 ± 11.50, 566.20 ± 8.79, 406.38 ± 10.98, 291.14 ± 4.71, 232.59 ± 5.96, 192.47 ± 3.45, and 160.48 ± 7.15 h, respectively. We established three developmental models for C. rufifacies to estimate the age of the developing insect: the isomorphen diagram model, the isomegalen diagram model and the thermal summation model. Regression analysis was conducted to obtain the relationship between body length and development time of the larvae from hatching to wandering. The developmental threshold temperatures of the egg, 1st instar, 2nd instar, 3rd instar, and wandering larvae, and intra-puparial stages were 12.28 ± 0.30, 11.74 ± 0.95, 12.70 ± 0.55, 11.68 ± 0.96, 10.53 ± 1.53, and 12.51 ± 0.41°C, respectively. The developmental threshold temperature, and the thermal summation constant during the entire developmental period were 3759.95 ± 170.80 degree hours and 11.96 ± 0.38°C, respectively. This study provides an improved dataset to estimate the postmortem interval of corpses using C. rufifacies.

Keywords: Chrysomya rufifacies; blow fly; developmental model; forensic entomology; postmortem interval.