Wing measurements are a possible tool for the identification of European forensically important Sarcophagidae.

The flesh flies are a group of insects well known for their forensic importance. Reliable identification of these flies relies on the use of either molecular markers or the morphology of the male genital apparatus. Identification of female flesh flies is more time consuming and less reliable than their male counterparts. This is particularly problematic for forensic entomology practitioners, because female flesh flies are more abundant than males in carrion arthropod assemblages. As such, it is critical that alternative methods for flesh fly identification are established that are equally effective for both sexes. One promising technique is the use of wing measurements, which have been shown to be reliable for the identification of some groups of necrophagous Diptera from several geographical regions. We applied this method to the European Sarcophagidae for the first time, using a dataset of 881 specimens representing 29 species and 5 genera. Species identifications were based on 15 landmarks located at wing vein junctions. We also combined our results with data from previous studies of Calliphoridae and Muscidae which utilised the same methodology, enabling the testing of family level identification using wing morphometrics. Species identifications using wing measurements had varied success. While some species were successfully identified without error, others, particularly from the genus Sarcophaga, were often misclassified. Notably, in several species wing measurements successfully identified both males and females. The results presented here suggest that wing measurements are a promising complementary method to other methods for the identification of necrophagous Sarcophagidae especially in material unsorted at the family level. It can also be used to double check identification performed by a taxonomist using traditional methods.

Third instar larvae of flesh flies (Diptera: Sarcophagidae) of forensic importance--critical review of characters and key for European species.

Necrophagous Sarcophagidae are among the insects most frequently reported from human corpses. The broad forensic application of flesh flies is restricted by the lack of reliable tools for species identification of larval stages and mass breeding of collected flesh fly larvae to the adult stage, and more recently DNA-based methods are usually recommended for precise species identification. To overcome this situation, the following study was implemented: (1) original larval material was obtained of the European flesh flies of confirmed or potential forensic importance; (2) larval morphology was studied and documented using a combination of standard light microscopy, image-stacking stereomicroscopy and SEM; and (3) larval characters used in previously published keys were critically revised. The taxonomic value of the following characters was considered insignificant: (1) differences in level of sclerotisation of particular parts of the cephaloskeleton, (2) level of sclerotisation of the posterior spiracular peritreme and (3) the shape of posterior spiracular slits. A high taxonomic value was noticed for the general shape of anterior spiracles, pattern of arrangement of their lobes, and distribution and shape of spines/warts on the inter-band area of segments. Two character states-long window in the dorsal cornu of cephaloskeleton and deep spiracular cavity on anal division-are not found in the Miltogramminae and therefore cannot be considered as family-specific for the entire Sarcophagidae. As a comprehensive result of our studies, an identification key is presented for the third instar larvae of European flesh flies of forensic importance. The key is user-friendly and requires no dissections of larvae, as soaking the material in methyl salicylate will allow observation of all diagnostic details of the cephaloskeleton. A simple stereomicroscope (magnification about ×50) is sufficient for the observation of all characters presented in the key. This key may be systematically extended by the addition of species present in adjacent geographical regions.

Identification of forensically important Sarcophaga species (Diptera: Sarcophagidae) using the mitochondrial COI gene.

The identification of species of the forensically important genus Sarcophaga is very difficult and requires strong taxonomic expertise. In this study, we sequenced the mitochondrial cytochrome c oxidase subunit I (COI) gene of 126 specimens of 56 W European Sarcophaga species and added GenBank data to our database to yield a total dataset of 270 COI sequences from 99 Sarcophaga species to evaluate the COI gene as a molecular diagnostic tool for species identification in this genus. Using two simple criteria (Best Match, BM and Best Close Match, BCM), we showed that the identification success using a mini-barcode region of 127 bp was very low (80.7-82.5 %) and the use of this region is not recommended as a species identifier. In contrast, identification success was very high using the standard barcode region (658 bp) or using the entire COI region (1,535 bp) (98.2-99.3 %). Yet, there was a low interspecific sequence divergence (<2 %) in six species groups so that for 16 out of the 99 species (nine of which are of forensic importance), the use of COI barcodes as species identifier should be done with care. For these species, additional markers will be necessary to achieve a 100 % identification success. We further illustrate how such reference databases can improve local reference databases for forensic entomologists.

Revision of Taxigramma pseudaperta Séguy, 1941 and comparisons with sympatric T. multipunctata (Rondani, 1859) (Diptera: Sarcophagidae).

The identity of the nominal taxon Taxigramma pseudaperta Séguy, 1941 [type locality: France, Corse] is revised and an improved circumscription based partly on reared material of both sexes is presented through comparison with the very similar and sympatric species T. multipunctata (Rondani, 1859). A table is provided to separate first instars, puparia, males and females of these two taxa.