First case report of Calliphora vicina (Diptera: Calliphoridae) on an outdoor human corpse with an estimation of postmortem interval from Iran

The study of insects on the human corpse has an important role in forensic investigations. Their utility in legal cases has been overlooked in Iran and this report is the first case report on application of forensic entomology in Iran and its potential to estimate the postmortem interval of cadaver. We collected many third-instar larvae of Calliphora vicina from a human corpse placed in a 23 meters deep well in Fars Province, Iran. The corpse was in an advanced stage of decay and had a fracture in the neck. The larvae to become pupae and adults were reared on chicken meat in a thermostatic room. The emerged flies were allowed to feed, mate and oviposit in a rearing chamber to monitor the life cycle of this species. Based on the age of C. vicina third-instar larvae, minimum postmortem interval was estimated to have been 5-6.5 days prior to the discovery of the body.