Length of Time After Death: Effect on Attraction and Oviposition or Larviposition of Midsummer Blow Flies (Diptera: Calliphoridae) and Flesh Flies (Diptera: Sarcophagidae) of Medicolegal Importance in Missouri

A midsummer field study, conducted over two seasons, involved replicate samples of chickens killed at the same time. Hens were exposed to insect activity during the periods 0–24, 24–48, 48–72 and 72–96 h after death, being protected in the meantime by fine-mesh screening. In total, 10,551 adult flies were trapped over the hens and comprised mainly Sarcophaga spp. (Sarcophagidae) and greenbottle blow flies (Calliphoridae). Time after death affected the assemblage of species attracted, with Phaenicia coeruleiviridis (Macquart) a consistent early arriver and Cochliomyia macellaria (F.) delayed by ≈1 d. Sarcophaga spp. arrived early at such carrion, and Phormia regina (Meigen) and Phaenicia sericata (Meigen) were recovered from trap catches and reared from samples of immatures collected from hens at all time periods after death.