Decomposed liver has a significantly adverse affect on the development rate of the blowfly Calliphora vicina

Abstract

The development rate of immature Calliphora vicina reared on decomposed liver was significantly slower, by as much as 30 h (55.4 % of total development time) for mid-sized larvae, and 71 h (35.0 %) and 58 h (14.6 %) if using times to the onset of pupariation and eclosion, respectively, than those of immatures that developed on fresh whole pig's liver. Development rates of larvae reared on decomposed liver were also slower than those of larvae reared on minced pig's liver and frozen/thawed pig's liver. These results suggest that any estimate of minimum post-mortem interval may result in an over estimate if the blowflies used were developing on an already decomposed body. © 2012 The Author(s).