Estimating the age of Calliphora vicina eggs (Diptera: Calliphoridae): determination of embryonic morphological landmarks and preservation of egg samples (original) (raw)

International journal of legal medicine, 2016

Abstract

Blow fly eggs may sometimes be the only entomological evidence recovered in a forensic case, especially in cooler weather when hatching might take several days: hence, a method for estimating their age is greatly needed. However, developmental data on blow fly eggs are mainly limited to records of the time to larval hatching. The current paper describes the morphological changes occurring during embryogenesis of the blow fly Calliphora vicina Robineau-Desvoidy and their timing in relation to temperature, in order to determine those characters which can be used for simple egg age estimation using light microscopy. At 7.3 and 25 °C, 15 easily visualised morphological landmarks were determined in C. vicina living embryos, allowing for their age estimation with a resolution of 10-20 % of total egg developmental time. The observed age intervals were compared to the embryonic stages described for the fruit fly Drosophila melanogaster Meigen, which are used as reference data in multiple de...

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