Temperature and Tissue Type Impact Development of Lucilia cuprina (Diptera: Calliphoridae) in Sri Lanka

Abstract

<p><i>Lucilia cuprina</i> (Wiedemann; Diptera: Calliphoridae) is a facultative ecto-parasitic fly, distributed throughout the temperate and subtropical regions of the world. This blow fly species is of medical, veterinary, and forensic importance due to it being used in maggot debridement therapy (MDT), a causative agent of myiasis, and a decomposer of vertebrate carrion. The current study examined the combined effects of temperature and tissue type on the development of <i>L. cuprina</i>. Specimens were reared on three tissue types; swine muscle, swine liver, and bovine muscle at 20°C, 25°C, 27°C, and 38°C. The optimum condition for <i>L. cuprina</i> development was for immatures reared on bovine muscle (287.4 h) followed by those reared on swine muscle (288.0 h) and swine liver (288.4 h) at 27°C. The minimum temperature threshold of <i>L. cuprina</i> was deduced to be 14°C. No significant differences in larval width and length over time were determined for the tissue type.</p>