Calliphora latifrons

Calliphora latifrons
Scientific classification
Kingdom:	Animalia
Phylum:	Arthropoda
Class:	Insecta
Order:	Diptera
Family:	Calliphoridae
Genus:	Calliphora
Species:	C. latifrons
Binomial name
Calliphora latifrons Hough, 1899

Calliphora latifrons is a species of blue bottle fly.

This fly adheres to a particular environment and ecosystem that has limited geographic distributions in North America. Undisturbed, this environment fosters C. latifrons unique life cycle that somewhat differs from related blow flies. This life cycle can be utilized as a tool for forensic applications such as postmortem interval determination.

Calliphora latifrons can be distinguished from related species by the following set of characters:

The life cycle of Calliphora latifrons is similar to many other domestic flies, and is dependent on temperature. The eggs, which are yellowish or white in color, are deposited by the female into mostly moist, solid organic matter and are approximately 0.04 in long. The egg hatches after about 27 hours, and is prone to desiccation.

The eggs hatch into a larva, or maggot, which passes through three instars. The legless maggots are 0.5–0.75 inches (13–19 mm). Each instar stage is divided by a molt. Entomologists are able to determine the instar stages by inspecting the posterior spiracles of the larvae. The first instar lasts around 22 hours, the second 14 hours, and the third instar, which is the longest, lasts 36 hours. After the third instar, the larvae tend to move towards drier areas and burrow into hiding to pupate. In between the third instar and the pupa stage, there is an intermediate stage known as the prepupa. The prepupa lasts about 92 hours for C. latifrons.

...
Wikipedia