Blowflies Taxa in Forest Regions

Blowflies Taxa in Forest Regions

Abigail Lam

Glebe Park

Kaitlyn Fleming

4949

April 2023

Online

Haliburton County, Glebe Park

Insect Studies

Insects are a large group of arthropods that play essential roles in our environment,
including cycling nutrients, pollinating plants, acting as a food source for other taxa, and many
more. However, regarding non-environmental applications, insects play important roles in
forensic entomology. Although well-studied in urban regions, there is a lack of biodiversity
information on blowfly species in rural habitats. Therefore, this study aimed to determine
blowfly species composition in Haliburton, Ontario. Four bottle traps were set up across three
different types of forests in Glebe Park between July 1st to September 2nd, 2022. In the family
Calliphoridae, we report 11 species: Lucilia illustris, Phormia regina, Calliphora livida, Lucilia
silvarum, Lucilia coeruleiviridis, Calliphora vicina, Lucilia sericata, Calliphora vomitoria,
Cynomya cadaverina, Calliphora terraenovae, and Protophormia terraenovae. We examined if
several environmental variables affected species abundance and composition. We found
accumulated degree days above 0°C, numeric date, total precipitation (14 days), and humidity
affect species abundance. However, none of the variables examined (forest type, elevation, and
distance from the water) seemed to affect species composition. Our results align with previous
research in which accumulated degree days affected Calliphoridae abundance. The results of this
study can help answer questions in forensic entomology, such as calculating post-mortem
intervals, stages of decomposition, and determining if a body has been moved from its original
location.

Trent University