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4 December 2020 Body Size and Cuticular Hydrocarbons as Larval Age Indicators in the Forensic Blow Fly, Chrysomya albiceps (Diptera: Calliphoridae)
Fayeza Alotaibi, Mohammed Alkuriji, Salwa AlReshaidan, Reem Alajmi, Dina M. Metwally, Bassam Almutairi, Majed Alorf, Rania Haddadi, Ashraf Ahmed
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Abstract

Chrysomya albiceps (Wiedemann 1819) is one of the most important insects in forensic entomology. Its larval developmental and survival rates are influenced by nutritional resources, temperature, humidity, and geographical regions. The present study investigated the possibility of relying on body size and cuticular hydrocarbon composition as indicators for age estimation of the different larval instars of C. albiceps. Larvae were maintained in standardized laboratory conditions at different experimental temperatures. All larval instars (first, second, and third) were randomly collected for measuring their body sizes and for estimating their cuticular hydrocarbons at different rearing temperatures (30, 35, 40, and 45°C) using gas chromatography–mass spectrometry (GC–MS). Results indicated that the duration of larval stage was temperature dependent as it gradually decreased on increasing the rearing temperature (30, 35, and 40°C) except 45°C at which larval development was ceased. In contrary, larval body size, in terms of length, width, and weight, was temperature dependent as it gradually increased with larval development on increasing rearing temperature except at 45°C at which larval development was ceased. The GC–MS showed a significant difference in the extracted components of cuticular hydrocarbons between different larval instars reared in the same temperature and between the same larval instar that reared at different temperatures. Furthermore, the highest and lowest amounts of cuticular hydrocarbons were detected at 35 and 40°C, respectively. Overall, larval body size and cuticular hydrocarbon components were temperature dependent within the range 30–40°C, which may suggest them as possible reliable age indicators for estimating the postmortem interval in the field of medicolegal entomology.

© The Author(s) 2020. Published by Oxford University Press on behalf of Entomological Society of America. All rights reserved. For permissions, please e-mail: journals.permissions@oup.com.
Fayeza Alotaibi, Mohammed Alkuriji, Salwa AlReshaidan, Reem Alajmi, Dina M. Metwally, Bassam Almutairi, Majed Alorf, Rania Haddadi, and Ashraf Ahmed "Body Size and Cuticular Hydrocarbons as Larval Age Indicators in the Forensic Blow Fly, Chrysomya albiceps (Diptera: Calliphoridae)," Journal of Medical Entomology 58(3), 1048-1055, (4 December 2020). https://doi.org/10.1093/jme/tjaa256
Received: 24 August 2020; Accepted: 14 October 2020; Published: 4 December 2020
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KEYWORDS
body size
Chrysomya albiceps
cuticular hydrocarbon
forensic
larval longevity
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