Lucilia sericata
| 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.
Lucia sericaca 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 9 bristles on each side, while L. cuprina has three or less.
The lifecycle of Lucilia sericata is typical of flies in the family Calliphoridae in that the egg hatches into a larva that passes through three instars, enters a prepupal and then a pupal stage before emerging into the adult stage or imago. The female lays a mass of eggs in a wound, a carcass or corpse, or in necrotic or decaying tissue. The eggs hatch in about 9 hours in warm, moist weather, but may take as long as three days in cooler weather. In this, they differ from the more opportunistic Sarcophagidae, that lay hatching eggs or completely hatched larvae. A single female L. sericata typically lays 150−200 eggs per clutch and may produce 2,000 to 3,000 eggs in her lifetime. The pale yellow or grayish, conical larvae, like those of most blow flies, have two posterior spiracles through which they respire. These larvae are moderately sized, ranging from 10 to 14 millimeters long.
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Wikipedia