Family Calliphoridae


Bodenheimer (Animal Life in Palestine, 1935) has this to say:
The large humming Blue-fly (Calliphora erythrocephala), Pollenia rudis and the house fly (Musca domestica) are our common houseflies. The first develops on decaying animals. This is the case with the common Green-fly Lucilia serricata. Buxton, however, during his stay in Palestine, reports three cases in which wounds in human beings were inflicted by this fly. The Green-fly Chrysomyia albiceps, which is common in the spring and autumn, appears only on carcasses in the later stages of decay. Its larvae seem to prey mainly on the larvae of Calliphora or Lucilia, but likewise are able to develop on the semi-fluid juices of the carcass.

From Wikipedia:
Blow-flies (also frequently spelled blow flies or blowflies) are members of the family Calliphoridae of flies (Diptera). Flies in this family are often metallic in appearance. Some members of this family are known as bluebottles, clusterflies or greenbottles. The name blow-fly comes from an older English term for meat that had eggs laid on it, which was said to be fly blown. Blow-flies are usually the first insect to come in contact with a dead animal.
Biology: Adult blow-flies are occasional pollinators, being attracted to flowers with a strong odor resembling rotting meat, such as the American pawpaw or Dead Horse Arum. There is little doubt that these flies utilize nectar as a source of carbohydrates to fuel flight, but just how and when this happens is unknown. Larvae of most species are scavengers of carrion and dung and most likely constitute the majority of the maggots found in such material, although it is not uncommon for them to be found in close associate with other dipterous larvae from the families Sarcophagidae, Muscidae, and many other acalyptrate muscoid flies. Most species of blowflies studied thus far are anautogenous; a female requires a substantial amount of protein to develop mature eggs within her ovaries (about 800 µg per pair of ovaries in Phormia regina). The current theory is that females visit carrion both for protein and egg laying, but this remains to be proven. Blow-fly eggs are approximately 1.5 mm x 0.4 mm, are yellowish or white, and when laid, look like rice balls. While the female blow-fly typically lays 150-200 eggs per batch, she is usually iteroparous, laying around 2,000 eggs during the course of her life. The sex ratio of blowfly eggs is usually 50:50, but one interesting exception is currently documented in the literature. Females from two species of the genus Chrysomya (C. rufifaces and C. albiceps) are either arrhenogenic (laying only male offspring) or thelygenic (laying only female offspring).
Hatching from an egg to the first larval stage takes about 8 hours to one day. Larvae have three stages of development (called instars); each stage is separated by a molting event. The instars are separable by examining the posterior spiracles, or openings to the breathing system. The larvae use proteolytic enzymes in their excreta (as well as mechanical grinding by mouth hooks) to break down proteins on the livestock or corpse they are feeding on. Blowflies are poikilothermic, which is to say that the rate at which they grow and develop is highly dependent on temperature and species. Under room temperature (about 30 degrees celsius) the black blowfly Phormia regina can go from egg to pupa in 150-266 hours (6 to 11 days). When the third stage is complete the pupa will leave the corpse and burrow into the ground, emerging as an adult 7 to 14 days later.
Since development is highly predictable if the ambient temperature is known, blow-flies are considered a valuable tool in forensic science. Traditional estimations of time since death (namely rigor mortis and algor mortis) are generally unreliable after 72 hours and often entomologists are the only officials capable of generating an accurate approximate time interval. The specialized discipline related to this practice is known as forensic entomology
Blowfly maggots have also been used successfully in the treatment of badly infected wounds: see maggot therapy.


Species Reference source Collection
Bellardia pandia (Walker, 1849) Bet Dagan
Calliphora erythrocephala (Meigen, 1826) Bodenheimer, 1937 Bet Dagan
Calliphora vicina Robineau-Desvoidy 1830 Bet Dagan
Chrysomyia albiceps Wiedemann, 1819 Bodenheimer, 1937 Bet Dagan
Chrysomya regalis Robineau-Desvoidy, 1830 Bodenheimer, 1937
Lucilia cuprina (Wiedemann, 1830) Bet Dagan
Lucilia nobilis Meigen, 1826 Bodenheimer, 1937
Lucilia ruficeps Meigen, 1826 Bodenheimer, 1937
Lucilia sericata (Meigen, 1826) Bodenheimer, 1937 Bet Dagan
Pollenia rudis (Fabricius, 1794) Bodenheimer, 1937 Bet Dagan
Pollenia ruficornis (Macquart, 1835) Bodenheimer, 1937
Pollenia vagabunda (Meigen, 1826) Bodenheimer, 1937
Protocalliphora azurea (Fallén, 1817) Bodenheimer, 1937
Rhyncomya cyanescens (Loew, 1844) Bet Dagan
Stomorhina lunata (Fabricius, 1805) Bodenheimer, 1937 Bet Dagan