Green bottle flies (Calliphoridae, Luciliinae) of Ecuador: geographic distribution, checklist and DNA barcodes

AMAT, EDUARDO; BARRAGÁN, ÁLVARO R.; MORENO, EMILIA A.; DONOSO, DAVID A.; MENESES, PABLO E.

Neotropical Biodiversity

TAYLOR Y FRANCIS

Año: 2020 vol. 6 p. 117 - 126

Green bottle flies (Diptera, Calliphoridae, Luciliinae) comprise a diverse and cosmopolitantaxon, known from at least 1,500 species. They have become crucial elements in forensicinvestigations, as they spend part of their life cycle in decaying remains. Here, we review thedistribution of eleven Luciliinae species in Ecuador: the monotypic Blepharicnema and tenLucilia species. We identified specimens using morphological characters. Additionally, we DNAbarcoded 43 specimens from three species using 658bp segments of the standard CytochromeOxidase I (COI) mitochondrial gen. Molecular and morphological identifications presented highcorrespondence, suggesting COI barcodes are an efficient tool for the identification of thesethree green bottle flies species. Geographical records are biased towards the northern Andeanregion, particularly near to large urban settlements. We remark the value to applied forensicresearch of continuous sampling of necrophagous flies under a variety of habitats and crimeconditions.