"SARCOPHAGIDAE CENTRAL"

Gregory A. Dahlem, PhD.

dahlem@fuse.net

This site is currently in its infancy. I hope to add a wide variety of information on the Sarcophagidae that will be useful to scientific investigators that are working on this family of flies. If you would like to see certain kinds of information at this site, please send me an e-mail message [dahlem@fuse.net] and I will see what I can do. I hope you find something useful or interesting here and I welcome any comments or suggestions that you might have regarding this site.
 

At the present time, there is not a lot of useful information concerning the Sarcophagidae available on the World Wide Web. Although there were over 200 matches the last time I searched "Sarcophagidae" using the search engine AltaVista, only a handful of the sites seemed very useful. Here is what I found:

• Pictures of sarcophagids:
• Camouflaged flesh fly - this is the best photo of a sarcophagid that I found
• Biocontrol projects - Mediterrranean Snails - A couple of photos are included here
•  The Amazing Fungi - Page starts with a picture of a sarcophagid on a stinkhorn [not much additional information on sarcophagids]
•  Diptera: Sarcophagidae - Photo with characteristics for identification of this family of flies
•  Sarcophagidae - Photo of unknown species (on a fish?)

• Regional catalogs and significant lists of species:
• Sarcophagidae -- a/o cat. - Sarcophagidae section of the Web Version of the Australasian/Oceanian Diptera Catalog
• BPBM Sarcophagidae List - Inventory of Sarcophagidae in the Bishop Museum
• Familia: Sarcophagidae - Inventory of Sarcophagidae of Costa Rica by INBIO
•  Sarcophagidae List - Genera of Sarcophagidae in the University of Queensland Insect Collection

• Locations of primary types of Sarcophagidae
• In the Ohio State University insect collection - Sarcophagidae types
• In the California Academy of Sciences Collection - Sarcophagidae Type Collection Holdings
• In the Cornell University collection -  CUIC Holdings

• Biological information:
• Some development data on different species of blowflies (Calliphoridae) - Developmental time data on several species
• Biocontrol projects - Mediterrranean Snails - Sarcophagids as parasitoids of snails
• Biological Control of Snails and Weeds - Sarcophagids as parasitoids of snails
• http://res.agr.ca/leth/scitech/dlj/troyjn97.htm - Information on biological control of grasshoppers with sarcophagids (with photos)
• Estimation of Postmortem Interval - Title - General forensic information with selected literature
•  Feedlot Sarcophagidae in Southern Alberta; APSS  - Information on sarcophagids associated with livestock dung
• Sarcophagidae - General information on the Sarcophagidae (in German)
• Abstracts from the 1st World Conference on Biosurgery. - Some information on possible medical uses of sarcophagids
• ASCLEPOL - Sarcophagids associated as pollinators of various species of milkweeds [need to search through data to find sarcophagid references]
•  MYIASIS - Sarcophagids as agents of myiasis [small about of info on sarcs]
•  Fossil Diptera Catalog -- Sarcophagidae - Information on fossil sarcophagids
• Control measures:
• Control of pest (?) sarcophagids - http://www.unisonservices.com/fleshflies.html
• Fungal pathogen - Entomophthora muscae

• Scientists working on the Sarcophagidae and publication lists:
• Rita Tibana (Brazil) - Rita Tibana
• Thomas Pape (Sweden/Denmark) - Thomas Pape
• Catia Antunes de Mello-Patiu -  Denise Pamplona
• Postage stamps:
• Sarcophaga haemorrhoidalis [Bhutan] - The new stamps of Bhutan - Stamp's number : 997190

---

• General Diptera References:
• U.S.D.A. Systematic Entomology Laboratory WELCOME TO DIPTERA!
• Directory of Entomologists with Pacific Interests - Pacific Entomologists Directory
• Directory of North American Dipterists - Directory / Annuaire
• Searchable database of European Dipterists -  Addresses of European Dipterists
• Searchable database of Taxonomic Expertise -  Taxonomic Resources and Expertise Directory (TRED)
• Directory of World Wide Forensic Entomologists -  Directory of World Wide Forensic Entomologists
• Directory of South American Dipterists -  sadiptera2

---

ANNOTATED BIBLIOGRAPHY OF THE SARCOPHAGIDAE

One of the main reasons that has led to the posting of this web site was my wish to make an annotated bibliography to world literature on the Sarcophagidae available to a wider audience. This project was initially the work of Dr. William L. Downes, Jr.. During the 1980's, I became involved with this project as I worked under Bill Downes during my time in graduate school. Thomas Pape also collaborated with this project. The three of us have spent (and continue to spend) considerable time working on this project, and we have received significant contributions from other Sarcophagidae specialists, including Dr. Dalibor Povolny (Czech Republic) and Dr. Yu. G. Verves (Ukraine). It has become apparent that it would take more time than any of us has available to really finish this project and put it in a publishable form, but we have all found the "unfinished" version very useful and think that others will find it a valuable tool. We will continue to update the bibliography as time allows.

Go to the Sarcophagidae Bibliography

---

IDENTIFICATION RESOURCES

Few good keys exist to any of the groups of the Sarcophagidae and I would suggest that most people identify specimens by matching up the distinctive male genitalia of a specimen with a figure in the literature. If you wish to identify North American Sarcophagidae, I would suggest the following three references as a starting point:

1. Aldrich, J.M. 1916. Sarcophaga and allies in North America. Entomological Society of America, Thomas Say Foundation Vol. 1, 302 pp., 16 pls. La Fayette, Indiana.
2. Roback, S.S. 1954. The evolution and taxonomy of the Sarcophaginae (Diptera: Sarcophagidae). Illinois Biological Monograph 23(3/4): i-v, 1-181.
3. Allen, H.W. 1926. North American species of two-winged flies belonging to the tribe Miltogrammini. Proceedings of the U.S. National Museum 68(9): 1-106 + Pls. 1-5.
Note: the most obvious starting point for identification is G.E. Shewell's generic key in the 1987 Manual of Nearctic Diptera, Volume 2. This key is very useful, but Shewell had a concept of very small genera that is not shared by myself or many other researchers in the Sarcophagidae. The broader view of genera held by myself, William L. Downes, Thomas Pape, and others, is better reflected in the recent "Catalogue of the Sarcophagidae of the World (Insecta: Diptera)" by Thomas Pape [Memoirs on Entomology, International. Volume 8. 1996. Associated Publishers].

---

SARCOPHAGIDAE LARVAE

An overview of information on the larvae of the Sarcophagidae is available in my chapter on the Sarcophagidae in Immature Insects. Volume 2.:

Dahlem, G.A. 1991. Sarcophagidae (Oestroidea). pp. 871-873 In: Stehr, F.W. ed. Immature Insects. Volume 2. Kendall/Hunt Publishing Company. Dubuque, Iowa. 975 pp.

A couple of important works on the larvae of North American Sarcophagidae that may be useful to those involved with forensic research are:

1. Denno, R.F. and Cothran, W.R. 1975. Niche relationships of a guild of necrophagous flies. Annals of the Entomological Society of America. 68: 741-754.
2. Greene, C.T. 1925. The puparia and larvae of sarcophagid flies. Proceedings of the U.S. National Museum, 66(29): 1-26 + 9 pls.
3. Sanjean, J. 1957. Taxonomic studies of Sarcophaga larvae of New York, with notes on the adults. Memoirs of the Cornell University Agricultural Experiment Station, 349: 1-115.

---

ETCETERA

As I mentioned at the beginning of this page, this is just the start of a general electronic reference to this important group of flies. There will be more to come!

---

Return to: Dahlem home page