Phormia regina

Phormia regina
Scientific classification
Kingdom:
Animalia
Phylum:
Arthropoda
Class:
Insecta
Order:
Diptera
Family:
Calliphoridae
Genus:
Phormia

Species:
P. regina
Binomial name
Phormia regina
Meigen, 1826
Synonyms
  • Musca regina Meigen, 1826

Phormia regina, the black blow fly, belongs to the blow fly family Calliphoridae and was first described by Johann Wilhelm Meigen.[1]

The black blow fly's wings are specialized with a sharp bend. These flies also have well-developed calypters. Blow flies generally are about the size of a house fly or a little larger, and many are metallic blue or green in color. Key characteristics of this species include black gena, mostly white calypters, and anterior thoracic spiracles that appear to be orange yellow due to being surrounded by bright orange setae.[2][3]

P. regina is especially important to forensic entomology. Female P. regina, like other blow flies in the family Calliphoridae, oviposit their eggs on carrion, where they hatch. The larvae develop through three instar stages until pupation.[4] Adult black blow flies aggregate on feces in order to mate. The success of these mating interactions has been studied and appears to be related to size and diet of the adult flies. Following successful mating encounters, the adult females are then attracted to decaying material rather quickly for oviposition,[5] allowing forensic entomologists to use development stages of larvae as a clue in determining an approximate time of death. P. regina are extremely common in the United States and other areas in North America.[4] Combined with their importance in forensic entomology, these flies have been relatively well studied, particularly for variables affecting their development.

  1. ^ Cite error: The named reference :7 was invoked but never defined (see the help page).
  2. ^ Whitworth, Terry (1 November 2010). "Keys to the genera and species of blow flies (Diptera: Calliphoridae) of the West Indies and description of a new species of Lucilia Robineau-Desvoidy". Zootaxa. 2663 (1): 1. doi:10.11646/zootaxa.2663.1.1.
  3. ^ Rognes, Knut (1991). Blowflies (Diptera, Calliphoridae) of Fennoscandia and Denmark. E.J. Brill/Scandinavian Science.[page needed]
  4. ^ a b Cite error: The named reference byrd was invoked but never defined (see the help page).
  5. ^ Cite error: The named reference :2 was invoked but never defined (see the help page).