Estimating the Age of Forensically Useful Blowfly, Sarconesia chlorogaster (Diptera: Calliphoridae), Using Larval Length and Weight.

Determining the age of an insect collected in a corpse is a key element to estimate the minimum postmortem interval in forensic entomology. Along with models of accumulated degree-hours, the estimation of the age based on larval weight and length is among the most common methods for this purpose. Sarconesia chlorogaster (Wiedemann, 1830), along with other Calliphoridae, is an important species in forensics in South America.

Climate Shapes the Geographic Distribution of the Blowfly Sarconesia chlorogaster (Diptera: Calliphoridae): An Environmental Niche Modeling Approach.

For all species, abiotic factors directly affect performance, survival and reproduction, and consequently, their geographic distribution. Species distribution models (SDMs) are important tools to predict the influence of abiotic factors in species distributions and has been more applied over the years. However, these models can be built under different algorithms and using different methods to select environmental predictors, which can lead to different results.

The effect of temperature on development of Sarconesia chlorogaster, a blowfly of forensic importance.

Purpose: The blowfly Sarconesia chlorogaster (Diptera: Calliphoridae) is of limited forensic use in South America, due to the poorly known relationship between development time and temperature. The purpose of this study was to determine development time of S. chlorogaster at different constant temperatures, thereby enabling the forensic use of this fly.