84 MISC. PUBLICATION 6 31, U. S. DEPT. OF AGRICULTURE 



of lower vertebrates, Bufolucilia silvarum (Mg.) and B. bufonivora 

 (Mon.) often produce a fatal myiasis in Amphibia. 



Larva. — The larva is similar to that of Calliphora, but is usually 

 smaller ; it lacks the accessory oral sclerite characteristic of that genus. 



Literature. — In addition to general works on the subject, there is 

 a review of the world species of Lucilia in the broad sense by Aubertin 



U). 



KEY TO SPECIES 



1. Subcostal sclerite with wiry bristlelike setulae ; basicostal scale black ; 2 



postsutural acrosticals 2 



Subcostal sclerite with only soft pubescence ; basicostal scale yellow ; 3 

 postsutural acrosticals 3 



2. Male with frontalia nearly obsolete at the narrowest part, the eyes being 



nearly contiguous for a short distance ; male hypopygium large and 



metallic: Palaearctic species Lucilia caesar (Linnaeus) 



Male with frontalia evident throughout and nearly as wide as the para- 

 frontal at the lunule ; male hypopygium small ; Holarctic species 



Lucilia illustris (Meigen) 



3. Male with 2 pairs of ocellar bristles, that is, a second and shorter pair 



just behind or on a level with the posterior ocelli ; front of male about 

 one-fifth head width : abdominal sternites of male long haired ; bucca of 



female less than one-third eye height 4 



Male without the accessory pair of ocellars ; front of male about one-eighth 

 head width ; sternites of male with ordinary pile ; bucca of female almost 

 two-fifths eye height Phoenicia sericata (Meigen) 



4. Old World species Phoenicia cuprina (Wiedemann) 



New World species Phoenicia pallescens (Shannon) 8 



LUCILIA CAESAR (Linnaeus) 



Recognition Characters. — This is a bluish-green species with hyaline wings, 

 stiff black setulae on the subcostal sclerite, and two postsutural acrosticals; the 

 females are difficult to separate from some other species of Lucilia, but the male 

 may be recognized by the very prominent shining green hypopygium. Length, 

 5-10 mm. Larva : The posterior spiracles of the mature larva are somewhat 

 pear-shaped, with a very thin peritreme and three straight, rather slender slits ; 

 the spiracles are distant from each other by a little less than the diameter of one 

 of them. 



Geographical Distribution. — Palaearctic Region : Ireland, Scotland, England, 

 Isle of Wight, Spain, France, Netherlands, Switzerland, Italy, Sardinia, Sicily, 

 Germany, Austria, Poland, Czechoslovakia, Hungary, Yugoslavia, Rumania, 

 Bulgaria, Greece, European Russia (north to Moscow), Azerbaijan, Canary 

 Islands, Madeira, Morocco, Libia, Siberia (Ussuri, Kamchatka), China, Man- 

 churia, Japan. The species has been reported from many other parts of the 

 world, but probably all except the Palaearctic records are erroneous. 



Biology and Pathogenesis. — The larva is primarily saprophagous 

 and usually breeds in decaying animal matter. It has, however, been 

 recorded as a secondary sheep maggot in the British Isles, and Seguy 

 (135) reports it as attacking a wounded hedgehog. Cases of human 

 wound myiasis are reported by Onorato (96) in Libia and by Galli- 

 Valerio (43) in Switzerland; if the identifications are correct, this 

 species. can produce a severe, though rare, myiasis, which in one in- 

 stance required the amputation of a hand. Auricular and gastro- 

 intestinal myiases have also been attributed to this species. 



The literature on this species is abundant, but much of it is based on 

 mistaken identifications. This is especially true of the non-European 



8 This species has been included in the key because it has been confused in litera- 

 ture with P. cuprina. The differentiation between these species is mainly one 

 of relative measurements ; biologically, however, P. pallescens seems to be purely 

 saprophytic. 



