Redescription of Sphecapatoclea excisa Villeneuve, 1909 (Diptera: Sarcophagidae).

Sphecapatoclea excisa Villeneuve, 1909, the type species of the Palaearctic genus Sphecapatoclea Villeneuve, 1909, is redescribed based on a female syntype and on material from Makhtesh Ramon National Park, Israel, and its first instar larva is described for the first time. The species is sexually dimorphic, with much darker adult males. The male genital apparatus is unique by its compressed and sclerotised epiphallus.

DNA barcoding allows identification of European Fanniidae (Diptera) of forensic interest.

In forensic entomology practice, species identification is a prerequisite for any further analysis of collected material. Although morphology-based taxonomy may be hindered by a range of factors, these are not obstacles for a molecular identification approach, so-called DNA barcoding. The Fanniidae are a dipteran family that is attracted to and breeds in decomposing animal carrion and dead human bodies.