Common green bottle fly
| Common green bottle fly | |
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| Scientific classification | |
| Kingdom: | Animalia |
| Phylum: | Arthropoda |
| Class: | Insecta |
| Order: | Diptera |
| Family: | Calliphoridae |
| Genus: | Lucilia |
| Species: | L. sericata |
| Binomial name | |
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Lucilia sericata (Meigen, 1826) |
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| Synonyms | |
The common green bottle fly (biological name Phaenicia sericata or Lucilia sericata) is a blow fly found in most areas of the world, and the most well-known of the numerous green bottle fly species. It is 10–14 mm long, slightly larger than a house fly, and has brilliant, metallic, blue-green or golden coloration with black markings. It has short, sparse black bristles (setae) and three cross-grooves on the thorax. The wings are clear with light brown veins, and the legs and antennae are black. The maggots (larvae) of the fly are used for maggot therapy.
Lucilia sericata is common all over the temperate and tropical regions of the planet, mainly the Southern Hemisphere: Africa and Australia. It prefers warm and moist climates and accordingly is especially common in coastal regions, but it also is present in arid areas. The female lays her eggs in meat, fish, animal corpses, infected wounds of humans or animals, and excrement. The larvae feed on decomposing tissue. The insect favours species of the genus Ovis, domestic sheep in particular. This can lead to blow fly strike, causing problems for sheep farmers, though L. sericata is not a major cause of blow fly strike in most regions.
The defining characteristic of L. sericata, and most used when identifying the adult fly is the presence of three bristles on the dorsal mesothorax. This body region is located on the middle of the back of the fly. L. sericata is almost identical to its sister species, L. cuprina. Identification between these requires microscopic examination of two main distinguishing characteristics. As opposed to L. cuprina, which has a metallic green femoral joint in the first pair of legs, L. sericata is blue-black. Also, when looking at the occipital setae, L. sericata has one to nine bristles on each side, while L. cuprina has three or less.
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Wikipedia