Concept

Protophormia terraenovae

Protophormia terraenovae is commonly called northern blowfly, blue-bottle fly or blue-assed fly (blue-arsed fly in British English). It is distinguished by its deep blue coloration and large size and is an important species throughout the Northern Hemisphere. This fly is notable for its economic effect as a myiasis pest of livestock and its antibiotic benefits in maggot therapy. Also of interest is P. terraenovae’s importance in forensic investigations: because of their temperature-dependent development and their prominent presence on corpses, the larvae of this species are useful in minimum post-mortem interval (mPMI) determination. Protophormia terraenovae, of the family Calliphoridae, was named and first described by French entomologist André Jean Baptiste Robineau-Desvoidy in his 1830 “Essai sur les myodaires.” Its genus is shared by one other fly, Protophormia atriceps. Both flies are a dark, undusted, metallic blue-green-black. P. terraenovae is differentiated from P. atriceps by its flat face, plumose arista, and by up to 2 additional pairs of setae along the margin of the scutellum. P. terraenovae’s specific epithet is translated from the Latin as “of the New World.” The oldest-known specimens of P. terraenovae pupae were identified in 1973 within the fossilized skull of a steppe wisent. The bison skull, estimated to date from the late Eemian period, was excavated from the site of a new sluice for the Brussels-Rupel Canal in Zemst, Belgium. The specimens, although approximately 75,000 years old, are identical in form to the pupae of the modern species. The adult Protophormia terraenovae, one of the larger species of calliphorids, measures between 7 and 12 mm in length. It is characterized by a black to brown anterior thoracic spiracle, a black basicosta, brown wing veins, and dark calypters. Upper calypters sprout black setae. While the thorax and abdomen of P. terraenovae can range in color from dark purple to dark green, the head and legs of this fly are black. Postocular setae are short but prominent; the palpi are yellow or dusky brown.

About this result
This page is automatically generated and may contain information that is not correct, complete, up-to-date, or relevant to your search query. The same applies to every other page on this website. Please make sure to verify the information with EPFL's official sources.
Related concepts (2)
Calliphoridae
The Calliphoridae (commonly known as blow flies, blow-flies, carrion flies, bluebottles, or greenbottles) are a family of insects in the order Diptera, with almost 1,900 known species. The maggot larvae, often used as fishing bait, are known as gentles. The family is known to be polyphyletic, but much remains disputed regarding proper treatment of the constituent taxa, some of which are occasionally accorded family status (e.g., Bengaliidae and Helicoboscidae).
Myiasis
Myiasis (maɪ.ˈaɪ.ə.səs ), also known as flystrike or fly strike, is the parasitic infestation of the body of a live animal by fly larvae (maggots) that grow inside the host while feeding on its tissue. Although flies are most commonly attracted to open wounds and urine- or feces-soaked fur, some species (including the most common myiatic flies—the botfly, blowfly, and screwfly) can create an infestation even on unbroken skin and have been known to use moist soil and non-myiatic flies (such as the common housefly) as vector agents for their parasitic larvae.

Graph Chatbot

Chat with Graph Search

Ask any question about EPFL courses, lectures, exercises, research, news, etc. or try the example questions below.

DISCLAIMER: The Graph Chatbot is not programmed to provide explicit or categorical answers to your questions. Rather, it transforms your questions into API requests that are distributed across the various IT services officially administered by EPFL. Its purpose is solely to collect and recommend relevant references to content that you can explore to help you answer your questions.