Gold fly
| Gold fly | ||||||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
Gold fly ( Lucilia sericata ) |
||||||||||||
| Systematics | ||||||||||||
|
||||||||||||
| Scientific name | ||||||||||||
| Lucilia sericata | ||||||||||||
| ( Meigen , 1826) |
The gold fly ( Lucilia sericata ) is a fly from the blowfly family (Calliphoridae). It occurs almost worldwide.
features
,_Hartelholz,_M%C3%BAnich,_Alemania,_2020-06-27,_DD_362-380_FS.jpg)
The flies reach a body length of 5 to 11 millimeters and, like all related species, have a gold-green metal-colored body. The presence of a row of bristles on the sides of the trunk (the hypopleural setae ) and the absence of the postscutellum , a section on the upper side of the trunk, distinguish from similar-looking, also gold-green metallic representatives of the Tachinidae and Muscidae . The species is only distinguishable from other similar looking blowflies for specialists on the basis of microscopic features in the laboratory. Important features are: The basicosta (a small sclerite on the wing joint, on the front edge of the wing) is colored yellow to orange-yellow, the palps are also yellow, but can be darkened towards the tip. The first limb of the antenna whip is three to four times as long as it is wide. For a reliable distinction the formation of different setae and the form of the male copulation apparatus ( aedeagus ) should be compared.
The species is very similar to Lucilia cuprina , which can also cause myiasis . Distinguishing features cf. Whitworth and Holloway in Europe, the species is very similar to Lucilia caesar , which is more common in human dwellings. The most similar species is the somewhat rarer Lucilia richardsi .
distribution
The species is predominantly distributed holarctic , both in Eurasia and in North America. It occurs in South America and South Africa, but here rather like an island, it is absent over large areas, for example in the Caribbean and in most of Central America. It was introduced to Australia and New Zealand as early as the 19th century, where it is of great economic importance as a pest in sheep breeding today. In Australia, however, it is more synanthropic and of less economic importance.
habitat
The gold fly prefers human settlement areas as a habitat. The iridescent fly can often be observed on rotting solids (meat and plant residues), excrement, but also on flowers, where it sucks nectar. The flight time of the gold fly is from June to September. They are diurnal.
Way of life
Like other Lucilia species, the species can occur on carcasses, preferring fresh corpses. Although it is not one of the dominant carrion colonists among the flies, it has a certain importance in forensic entomology because of its abundance in the human environment (synanthropy) . In contrast to most blowfly species, however, the species lives less often on carrion, but has migrated secondarily, as a temporary ectoparasite, to wounds of vertebrates, where the larva feeds primarily on dying, necrotic tissue, but also in from here in sheep healthy tissue can penetrate. Although the species occasionally occurs on carrion, it is rather rare here and is quickly displaced by other blowfly species through interspecific competition. Along with the similar and closely related Lucilia cuprea, the species is the most important pathogen causing myiasis in sheep. The fly maggot disease or myiasis caused by the species is economically important in sheep breeding, especially in regions with a moderate climate, where the species is now spread around the world. It seems possible that it only passed to the parasitic way of life through the domestication and breeding of sheep by humans.
The imaginal flies are flower visitors. Some of them are important pollinators of the umbelliferae family in Central Europe .
Economic importance
Gold flies belong to the stash pests and at the same time represent a serious health threat. Gold flies can transmit both food-decomposing and disease-transmitting germs. Mechanical transmission of pathogens can cause intestinal diseases in humans. If the flies come into contact with wounds, sepsis (blood poisoning) can also occur. If the flies lay their eggs in wounds in warm temperatures, wound myiasis can result. Furthermore, the gold flies are considered to be carriers of typhus, paratyphoid, dysentery, summer diarrhea and cholera. In the home, the goldfly lays its eggs on meat products. Within a very short time, the maggots dig into the meat and eat their way through. In this way the meat becomes inedible. Storage in the refrigerator cannot interrupt maggot development. The maggots are only killed when the meat is heated up or frozen. Infested food is therefore no longer suitable for consumption and must be disposed of. In food companies, products can be contaminated with saliva, feces and germs from the gold fly. In animal husbandry, gold flies can seriously damage the health of the animals if they lay their eggs in wounds or on intact areas of skin in the area of the animals' ears. Similar to humans, wound myiasis can occur here, for example, which, if it persists and is not treated, can even lead to the death of the animal concerned.
Sheep are particularly at risk, as the wool of the animals, which is soiled by sweat, excrement and urine, has a great attraction on gold flies.
Larvae
The larvae of the gold fly are known in the aquarium and terrarium trade as pinky maggots . The name came about because of the pink color of the larvae. Pinkies are used as fishing bait and are also a popular feed in terrariums , especially as feed for insects.
Use in human medicine
Aseptic larvae of the species grown in special laboratories can be used for wound therapy, a form of maggot therapy . This form of treatment was pushed back with the discovery of penicillin . This treatment method has returned to medical practice for several years, which is due to its good treatment success and growing antibiotic resistance . Maggot therapy is, in effect, an artificially induced myiasis . Since only species should be used that clearly prefer necrotic tissue in humans and do not infect healthy tissue, Lucilia sericata is considered to be one of the most suitable species for this. Spontaneous myiasis in humans occurs in isolated cases, but is extremely rare.
Individual evidence
- ^ Josef Boch, Christian Bauer: Veterinary Parasitology. 2006, Parey, ISBN 978-3830441359 , p. 279.
- ↑ Knut Rognes: Blowflies (Diptera, Calliphoridae) of Fennoscandia and Denmark. Fauna Entomologica Scandinavica 24. EJ.Brill / Scandinavian Science Press 1991. ISBN 90 04 09304 4 . Lucilia sericata on page 178.
- ↑ Terry Whitworth (2014): A revision of the Neotropical species of Lucilia Robineau-Desvoidy (Diptera: Calliphoridae). Zootaxa 3810 (1): 1-76. doi: 10.11646 / zootaxa.3810.1.1
- ↑ Beverley A. Holloway (1991) Morphological characters to identify adult Lucilia sericata (Meigen, 1826) and L. cuprina (Wiedemann, 1830) (Diptera: Calliphoridae), New Zealand Journal of Zoology 18 (4): 413-420. doi: 10.1080 / 03014223.1991.10422847
- ↑ Steven Falk (2016): Draft key to British Calliphoridae and Rhinophoridae. PDF .
- ↑ https://www.jarkow.de/schaedlinge/schaedlinge-lexikon/insekten/fliegen/goldfliege.html
- ^ Jens Amendt, Roman Krettek, Richard Zehner (2004): Forensic entomology. Science 91: 51-65. doi: 10.1007 / s00114-003-0493-5
- ^ KE Smith & R. Wall (1997): The use of carrion as breeding sites by the blowfly Lucilia sericata and other Calliphoridae. Medical and Veterinary Entomology 11 (1): 38-44. doi: 10.1111 / j.1365-2915.1997.tb00287.x
- ↑ Jamie Stevens & Richard Wall (1996): Species, Sub-Species and Hybrid Populations of the Blowflies Lucilia cuprina and Lucilia sericata (Diptera: Calliphoridae). Proceedings of the Royal Society London B 263: 1335-1335.
- ↑ Jamie R. Stevens & James F. Wallman (2006): The evolution of myiasis in humans and other animals in the Old and New Worlds (part I): phylogenetic analyzes. Trends in Parasitology 22 (3): 129-136. doi: 10.1016 / j.pt.2006.01.008
- ↑ Beate Träger and Wolf-Rüdiger Große (1987): On the biology of Lucilia sericata Meig. (Diptera, Calliphoridae) and their use as pollinators of cultivated plants. Hercynia NF 24: 153-165.
- ↑ https://www.jarkow.de/schaedlinge/schaedlinge-lexikon/insekten/fliegen/goldfliege.html
- ↑ https://www.jarkow.de/schaedlinge/schaedlinge-lexikon/insekten/fliegen/goldfliege.html
- ^ Ronald A. Sherman (2009): Maggot Therapy Takes Us Back to the Future of Wound Care: New and Improved Maggot Therapy for the 21st Century. Journal of Diabetes Science and Technology 3 (2): 336-344.
- ^ Fabio Francesconi & Omar Lupi (2012): Mysiasis. Clinical Microbiology Reviews 25 (1): 79-105. doi: 10.1128 / CMR.00010-11
