BRITISH BLOWFLIES (CALLIPHORIDAE) AND WOODLOUSE FLIES (RHINOPHORIDAE)

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Draft key to British Calliphoridae and Rhinophoridae Steven Falk 2016 Calliphora vicina male (left) and female (right) showing the brownish basicosta Habitat & biology Found in many settings but abundance greatest in urban, pastoral and rabbit-occupied settings. The larvae develop in fresh carrion of many sorts, from bird nestlings to large mammals. Myiasis has been recorded in assorted mammals (including humans), also birds and reptiles and it is an occasional sheep-strike species. It will also exploit meat, meat and dairy-based products and garbage. It is the main blowfly responsible for fly-blown food. Adults visit many sorts of flowers, including spring-blossoming shrubs, umbellifers and Ivy; also Stinkhorn fungus and faeces. Status & distribution Widespread and common over most of the British Isles extending north to Shetland. Our commonest bluebottle, though sometimes outnumbered by C. vomitoria, and occasionally other species in wooded, upland and northern areas. Calliphora vomitoria (Linnaeus, 1758) Orange-bearded Bluebottle Description & similar species WL 7-11mm. Readily distinguished from all other Calliphora species by the orange-haired genae. The ground colour of the genae, face and interfrontalia is usually dark. In the field it tends to look darker than C. vicina and the tergites produce deeper blue reflection, often with a hint of turquoise. Males have the eyes separated by about 0.75 times the width of a third antennal segment, with the interfrontalia narrower than the parafrontalia. 34
Draft key to British Calliphoridae and Rhinophoridae Steven Falk 2016 Calliphora vomitoria male (left) and female (right) showing the orange 'beard'. Notice the narrowly separated the male eyes. Variation Considerable size variation. The face and interfrontalia can occasionally be extensively reddish. Flight season Mostly March to November – overwintering predominantly as a larva. Habitat & biology Very similar to C. vicina, though less strongly synanthropic and more shade and humidity-loving in the south and often commoner than C. vicina in southern woods of such areas. However, C. vomitoria can also be the dominant bluebottle in moorland areas to altitudes of up to 700 metres in areas such as the Pennines and Wales, where it clearly capitalises on dead sheep (e.g. Davies & Laurence, 1991, Davies, 1999). It seems to prefer larger carrion than C. vicina. It has also been implicated in myiasis, including sheep fly-strike. Status & distribution Widespread and common over most of the British Isles extending north to Shetland. 35
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BRITISH BLOWFLIES (CALLIPHORIDAE) AND WOODLOUSE FLIES (RHINOPHORIDAE)

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